How Much of Our Use of AI Affects the Environment? by Umar Malek

 How Much of Our Use of AI Affects the Environment?

The world is rapidly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI). Most online interactions now involve it, from suggested search terms to personalized content feeds. Specifically, the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, which are trained on massive datasets to mimic human language, is driving unprecedented resource consumption. According to a survey at Elon University, 52% of U.S. adults now use these LLMs.

But AI needs massive amounts of power to run. According to MIT, Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft are trying to build nuclear power plants to match the power needed by AI to operate. Furthermore, the creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI, and President Donald Trump announced the $500 billion Stargate Initiative. The initiative aims to build close to 10 data centers. This would require 5 gigawatts of power, more than the amount of power the state of New Hampshire needs. That’s also enough to power nearly 3,750,000 homes! Apple also disclosed plans to spend $500 billion in 4 years, and Google is spending $75 billion just this year.

The fact that such an immense amount of power is needed begs the question: How much of our use of AI affects the environment?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, although AI can find patterns in climate data and actually improve the climate, the deployment of AI has a significant impact on the ecosystem. Data centers also produce unstable chemicals, including lead and mercury. These data centers use water to cool down the components inside. AI infrastructure consumes six times more water than the country of Denmark! This is a monumental problem when a noteworthy number of people lack access to water. Furthermore, microchips that power AI need scarce earthly materials, which are frequently mined in destructive settings. 

All in all, even though AI has a positive impact on humans' daily life, the sheer scale of AI deployment currently poses a significant and unsustainable burden on the ecosystem. Humanity as a whole needs to find a way to progress forward while minimizing the consequential impact.

1. Townsend, Eric. “Survey: 52% of U.S. Adults Now Use AI Large Language Models like ChatGPT.” Today at Elon, 12 Mar. 2025, www.elon.edu/u/news/2025/03/12/survey-52-of-u-s-adults-now-use-ai-large-language-models-like-chatgpt/.

2. O’Donnell, James, and Casey Crownhart. “We Did the Math on AI’s Energy Footprint. Here’s the Story You Haven’t Heard.” MIT Technology Review, 20 May 2025, www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/.

3.  UNEP. “AI Has an Environmental Problem. Here’s What the World Can Do about That.” UNEP, 21 Sept. 2024, www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about.progressforwardconsequential