Your Chatbot Has a Carbon Footprint
The next time you ask AI to draft your to-do list, remember, it may have consumed more energy than your dishwasher.
We’ve been so busy racing toward artificial intelligence, we forgot to check the meter. MIT Tech Review’s investigation into AI’s energy use reveals an inconvenient truth: every query, image, and video generated by AI consumes real electricity, lots of it.
One billion ChatGPT queries a day adds up fast. Newer models, like GPT-4 and Sora, demand more energy than ever, while companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta build out data centers and even fund nuclear power to keep up.
Yet details remain tightly guarded, with closed AI models offering little transparency.
- AI inference now uses 80–90% of compute power
- Generating a 5-second video uses 3.4M joules
- By 2028, AI may consume power equal to 22% of US homes
We can’t lead through complexity with blinders on. Transparency isn’t a threat to innovation—it’s what earns public trust. How should we hold AI companies accountable when they won’t even tell us what they’re burning?
Read the full article on MIT Technology Review.
----
💡 If you enjoyed this content, be sure to download my new app for a unique experience beyond your traditional newsletter.
This is one of many short posts I share daily on my app, and you can have real-time insights, recommendations and conversations with my digital twin via text, audio or video in 28 languages! Go to my PWA at app.thedigitalspeaker.com and sign up to take our connection to the next level! 🚀
If you are interested in hiring me as your futurist and innovation speaker, feel free to complete the below form.
Thanks for your inquiry
We have sent you a copy of your request and we will be in touch within 24 hours on business days.
If you do not receive an email from us by then, please check your spam mailbox and whitelist email addresses from @thedigitalspeaker.com.
In the meantime, feel free to learn more about The Digital Speaker here.
Or read The Digital Speaker's latest articles here.
Dr Mark van Rijmenam
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam, widely known as The Digital Speaker, isn’t just a #1-ranked global futurist; he’s an Architect of Tomorrow who fuses visionary ideas with real-world ROI. As a global keynote speaker, Global Speaking Fellow, recognized Global Guru Futurist, and 5-time author, he ignites Fortune 500 leaders and governments worldwide to harness emerging tech for tangible growth.
Recognized by Salesforce as one of 16 must-know AI influencers , Dr. Mark brings a balanced, optimistic-dystopian edge to his insights—pushing boundaries without losing sight of ethical innovation. From pioneering the use of a digital twin to spearheading his next-gen media platform Futurwise, he doesn’t just talk about AI and the future—he lives it, inspiring audiences to take bold action. You can reach his digital twin via WhatsApp at: +1 (830) 463-6967.
