AI has gone from being a groundbreaking technology used by those in the know, to AI chatbots having over a billion regular users. It can save time, money and speed up breakthroughs in fields such as science and medicine. It’s also developing rapidly.
- There are 8,574 Google AI Gemini visitors every minute
- More than 700 million people use ChatGPT every week
But here’s the thing: training and implementing AI models takes place in large, energy-hungry data centres.
- Data centre electricity consumption has grown by around 12% per year since 2017
- An AI-focused data centre consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households…
- … and in the future, they will use 20 times that amount
Many comms and marketers use AI for brainstorming, creative ideation, image generation and writing copy – without knowing its environmental impact.
2025 was the first year that the number of articles written by humans was roughly equal to the number of articles written by AI.
Using AI for content is like using a Ferrari where you only need a golf cart. Sure, it’s cool and powerful, but it’s entirely unnecessary and probably wrecks some things along the way. And, as you probably have guessed, it’s really terrible for the climate.
Alisa Bonsignore
AI is thirsty
AI is also very thirsty. Technology companies use water to cool, generate power and in manufacturing chips. The water has to be drinking quality because servers could get damaged by dirty water.
- Writing a 100-word email using ChatGPT-4 uses 500ml of water
- Using ChatGPT for 10 to 50 queries consumes about two litres of water.
Google was the first big AI company to release data on how much water and energy is used with every AI prompt (5 drops / 0.24 watt-hours). But some queries will use much more than this, and Google’s report does not share information on the number of queries Gemini gets each day.
How you can help
- Use AI tools mindfully, and only when necessary
- Look to other sources for creative ideas and inspiration
- Make sure you know the best ways to use AI for your content
- Try Green PT – a GPT-powered chat platform that runs on renewable energy (it’s also GDPR-compliant)
- Research low-impact, efficient AI approaches and methods if you’re considering building generative AI into an app
- Consult and collaborate with colleagues to create responsible AI practices and policies
- Go back to basics when you can – use your phone’s calculator or an online dictionary for simple tasks
- Don’t waste words: be concise in your requests and don’t say please and thank you to AI
- Specify the length of answer you want, and limit it to one or two sentences to save energy
- Check The Communicator’s Guide to Finding AI Tools You Can Trust.