Artificial Intelligence
The ECU Sustainability Program recognizes the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an integral part of daily life, powering everything from digital assistants to online shopping, but behind this innovation lies a growing environmental footprint. We ask that ECU students, staff, and faculty educate themselves on the environmental impacts of AI use then weigh the pros and cons before utilizing this technology for school, work, or research.
According to the International Energy Agency, a request made on OpenAI’s ChatGPT consumes almost ten times the amount of electricity compared to a Google Search.
Resources:
- Artificial Intelligence & Data Centers – Inside Climate News
- AI’s Energy Demand: Challenges and Solutions for a Sustainable Future – Penn State News
- Explained: Generative AI’s environmental impact – MIT News
- The Climate and Sustainability Implications of Generative AI – MIT News
- The Uneven Distribution of AI’s Environmental Impacts – Harvard Business Review
- Training a single AI model can emit as much carbon as five cars in their lifetimes | MIT Technology Review
- Data centers powering AI could use more electricity than entire cities – CNBC
- 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report – Berkeley National Laboratory
Reduce Your Impact:
- Consider amount of use
- Use the right tool
- Opt out as the default (add “-AI” to searches)
- Use efficient AI models
- Write good prompts
- Keep track of AI use
- Call for transparency
- Keep devices as long as possible