How much energy does AI really use? The answer is surprising - and a little complicated

rob dobi/Getty Images AI feels inescapable. It's everywhere: Your smartphone, Google, work tools. AI features promise to make life easier and more productive – but what exactly is the environmental impact of a quick chatbot query? As AI adoption continues to grow, so do the technology's energy costs. Made up of high-compute systems, AI requires a lot of data, which needs to be stored on large networks of computers known as data centers. Just like your personal computer, those gigantic centers need electricity -- as does the process of training an AI model, which relies on more compute than traditional computer functions. Also: How much energy does a single chatbot prompt use? This AI tool can show you But in the context of the energy we already use every day, from office lights and laptops to social media, how does that consumption actually compare? Can the technology's resource needs change or be improved over time? Is the time it supposedly saves worth the extra emissions? And wh ... Read full article.