AI is not the biggest digital polluter
BBC Science Focus compares the environmental impact of online behavior and arrives at a sober conclusion: AI consumes a lot of energy and water, but does not automatically top the list of harmful online behaviors.
The article cites estimates that global AI usage could emit approximately the same amount of CO2 annually as New York City. It also refers to calculations showing that ChatGPT can use about half a liter of water for server cooling for every 5 to 50 questions. Advisors to the British government even warn that AI data centers could have consequences for water security.
However, the comparison is complicated. A text query to a chatbot uses much less data than an AI video command. Furthermore, online behavior varies greatly by activity: reading text on LinkedIn has less impact than watching videos on TikTok, whereas cloud gaming can be relatively heavy because servers must run continuously.
Science Focus refers to a calculation by tech writer Andy Masley, who estimates an average ChatGPT query at 0.28 grams of CO2. That would be comparable to streaming about 35 seconds of video, uploading nine photos to social media, or using a laptop for one minute. Such figures remain uncertain, but they help put the scale into better perspective.
The broader lesson is that offline behavior often carries much more weight. Watching Netflix for a year is compared in the article to about 17 kilograms of CO2, roughly the same as a 60-mile drive in a gasoline car. A single flight or a single steak can easily exceed that by a considerable margin.
For AI users, this does not mean that the impact of AI can be ignored. Image, video, and major agent tasks, in particular, can be heavy, and data centers require a lot of power, water, and infrastructure. However, anyone looking to reduce their personal footprint must view AI usage in relation to larger choices regarding travel, food, purchasing goods, and energy consumption.