Artificial intelligence (AI) has earned a reputation for being energy-hungry, despite its potential benefits. A single Q&A session with a large language model can consume over half a liter of water to cool servers, while generating an image is comparable to charging a smartphone. ChatGPT’s responses reportedly use 10 times more electricity than conventional Google searches.
Environmental concerns have led some to question the energy efficiency of AI technologies like ChatGPT. However, digital activities are often compared unfavorably to AI in terms of their environmental impact. The need for better energy management and sustainability solutions is pressing, especially as AI adoption continues to grow.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/08/26/ai-climate-costs-efficiency