Recently, a study by the web hosting service provider KnownHost revealed the astonishing carbon footprint of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The data shows that ChatGPT alone attracts over 164 million users each month, generating up to 260,930 kilograms (approximately 260 tons) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the carbon emissions of 260 flights from New York to London. This highlights the significant environmental impact of rapidly advancing AI technology.
Image Source Note: Image generated by AI, image authorized by service provider Midjourney
With the rise of AI, the energy demand of data centers is also soaring. Research from the Berkeley Lab shows that the energy demand of U.S. data centers more than doubled from 2017 to 2023, while a report from the International Energy Agency predicts that by next year, the energy consumed by technologies such as data centers, AI, and digital cryptocurrencies may double again, with one-third of the growth coming from the data centers themselves. This trend has prompted the Biden administration to propose solutions for data center energy consumption, calling for the use of "clean energy" to operate these facilities.
It has been reported that ChatGPT consumes over 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity daily, equivalent to the daily energy consumption of more than 17,000 American households. Data scientists at the Dutch National Bank predict that by 2027, the entire AI industry’s annual electricity consumption will reach 85 to 134 terawatt-hours. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also warned that power shortages will become a major constraint on AI development within the next two years.
The astonishing energy consumption of AI is considered its "dirty secret." Leslie Miley, a technical advisor to Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer, pointed out that the energy consumption of generative AI even surpasses that of standard cloud services. Research from Harvard University and UCLA further confirms that since 2018, carbon emissions from U.S. data centers have tripled, currently accounting for 2.18% of total U.S. carbon emissions and consuming about 4.59% of the nation's total energy.
