While bitcoin’s effect on the environment has been debated at length over the past two years, the latest trend in artificial intelligence (AI) software is now being criticized for its carbon footprint. According to several headlines and academic papers this year, AI consumes significant power and utilizes large amounts of water to cool data centers.
Reports insist that AI and Chatgpt use a lot of electricity and water
In recent times, environmentalists have turned their sights on various technologies, and over the past 24 months much focus has been directed at bitcoin mining. Now, the insatiable drive to reduce carbon footprints is targeting the artificial intelligence (AI) trend that has taken the world by storm. There is no doubt that AI has been extremely popular in 2023, with Openai’s Chatgpt program and others releasing innovative new software. However, several articles and scientific papers claim that AI uses a huge amount of energy and has a significant carbon footprint.
According to a report published by Bloomberg, “AI uses more energy than other forms of computing.” The article uses a tactic used by members of the media to make it seem like machines are taking energy from people. “Training a single [AI] model can gobble up more electricity than 100 American homes use in an entire year,” Bloomberg writers Josh Saul and Dina Bass insist. The report further notes that while researchers have estimated a total of how much energy it takes to create an AI model, there is no overall estimate for the total amount of power the technology uses.
Meanwhile, an academic paper published by students from the University of Colorado Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington claims that Chatgpt not only consumes a lot of electricity, but also uses water to cool data centers. The newspaper quotes that the technology giant Microsoft uses so much water to cool its American AI plants that it can be used for “370 BMW cars or 320 Tesla electric cars”. The newspaper further claims that training the GPT-3 model consumed 185,000 liters of water.
Mark Labbe, a writer at techtarget.com, insists that “data centers and large-scale AI models use enormous amounts of energy and are harmful to the environment.” Another article from numenta.com also insists that AI is “damaging” the planet, and the author claims that the trend could accelerate the climate crisis if not addressed. Not everyone agrees with the studies and alarming headlines, as many believe the so-called climate crisis is a lie. For example, a report published by the Gatestone Institute claims that climate alarmism is harmful to the West.
“Future generations will judge us harshly for allowing extremist environmental activism to weaken us in the West,” explains Drieu Godefridi, the author at the Gatestone Institute. Meteorologist John Shewchuk insists climate alarmism is a hoax. “Climate Scam Alarmism Is No Substitute for Data,” Shewchuk tweeted April 16. “Our primate ancestors evolved when temperatures were about 20 degrees F warmer than today—and there were no polar ice caps. The Earth is now relatively very cold – and climatologically getting colder.”
From Bitcoin, to AI and then to rice farming – climate activists insist the science is settled
Additionally, climate alarmists aren’t just after bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence. A recent report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) is being criticized for blaming rice farming for significant CO2 emissions. “Scientists Say If World Wants to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Rice Can’t Be Ignored,” AFP’s report says. AFP’s tweet on Sunday was criticized by several individuals for reporting that rice farming causes CO2 emissions. “What cannot be ignored is the FACT that rice is literally the best food source for billions of people,” one person answered to AFP’s Twitter account. “Eliminating rice would starve millions…and some people like you [AFP] are good at it.”
Not everyone believes that climate science is settled and the debate has raged for years on social media and internet forums.
US Representative for Kentucky’s 4th congressional district, Thomas Massie, also criticized AFP’s video tweet. “The fact that the climate activists are going after rice shows you how illogical they are,” Massie so. “Mature forests release large amounts of methane. Ponds and lakes release methane. Decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen (or in the guts of herbivores and termites) releases methane,” he added. The truth is that people now believe that subjective judgments and arbitrary opinions about what is good for the planet and what is not should be investigated and regulated.
While bitcoin provides economic freedom as a censorship-resistant currency, some argue that it must also address climate change. Just like bitcoin, the environmental impact of artificial intelligence and rice farming has also been investigated. While many follow the rules and regulations set by climate change experts and bureaucrats, others hold conflicting views, arguing that the science is not settled.
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afp, ai, AI usage, Bitcoin, carbon footprint, carbon neutrality, carbon offset, censorship resistance, climate change, consensus, opposing view, cooling systems, data centers, deep learning, economic freedom, electricity, energy consumption, environmental impact, fossil fuels, Gatestone Institute, gpt-3 , greenhouse gas emissions , innovation , legislation , machine learning , methane emissions , microsoft , natural language processing , numenta.com , renewable energy , rice farming , social contracts , sustainability , technology , techtarget.com , University of Colorado Riverside , University of Texas Arlington , water consumption
What are your thoughts on the environmental impact of AI models and how it compares to the criticism of bitcoin mining? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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