{"id":3957,"date":"2025-11-03T15:56:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T07:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=3957"},"modified":"2025-11-03T17:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:22:14","slug":"ai-might-be-using-more-energy-than-all-of-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/?p=3957","title":{"rendered":"AI might be using more energy than all of Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, could soon consume<\/strong> as much energy as <\/strong>a
country the size of Ireland or the Netherlands, a new study has warned.

Every time you prompt<\/strong> ChatGPT to generate an image or an explanation, the
host company\u2019s servers run thousands of calculations to deliver the goods.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This process uses vast amounts of<\/strong> energy. To keep <\/strong>the servers from overheating<\/strong>,
water systems are often used to absorb <\/strong>the heat and carry it off<\/strong> to cooling towers<\/strong> to
evaporate<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A single query on ChatGPT can consume more than a half liter <\/strong>of fresh water to cool
servers<\/strong>. Estimates report<\/strong> that it also consumes 10 times as much electricity as a
conventional Google search. And generating an image is equivalent to charging a smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put this into perspective<\/strong>, ChatGPT prompts consume enough electricity daily to
power the Empire State Building<\/strong> for a year and a half. And globally, ChatGPT uses
around 39.16 million gallons of water daily, the equivalent of everyone in Taiwan
flushing their toilet at once.<\/strong>

The water AI companies use to cool their servers<\/strong> is the same fresh water<\/strong> used for
drinking, cooking and washing \u2014 and to put out fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to improve the efficiency of AI models are already underway<\/strong>, with
companies focusing on optimizing hardware<\/strong>, improving algorithms, and
considering renewable energy sources<\/strong> to offset their carbon footprint<\/strong>. Advances in<\/strong> energy-efficient chips, data center cooling techniques, and software optimization may help reduce energy demand over time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now<\/strong>, though, it\u2019s important to recognize the environmental cost<\/strong> of our digital
interactions<\/strong>. While each individual <\/strong>search or prompt might seem negligible<\/strong>,
collectively<\/strong>, they contribute to significant energy use and carbon emissions.
<\/strong>
consume \/k\u0259n\u02c8su\u02d0m\/<\/strong> \u610f\u4e3a \u201c\u6d88\u8017\u3001\u8017\u8d39\u201d\uff0c\u4e13\u95e8\u7528\u4e8e\u63cf\u8ff0\u8d44\u6e90\uff08\u5982\u80fd\u6e90\u3001\u65f6\u95f4\uff09\u7684\u4f7f\u7528\uff0c\u6bd4 \u201cuse\u201d \u66f4\u6b63\u5f0f\uff0c\u8d34\u5408\u5b66\u672f\u4e0e\u65b0\u95fb\u8bed\u5883\u3002

as much energy as <\/strong>\u6bd4\u8f83\u7ed3\u6784\uff0c\u610f\u4e3a \u201c\u548c\u2026\u2026 \u4e00\u6837\u591a\u7684\u80fd\u6e90\u201d
prompt<\/strong> v. \u4fc3\u4f7f\u3001\u5411\u2026\u2026 \u53d1\u51fa\u6307\u4ee4
deliver the goods<\/strong> \u5b8c\u6210\u7528\u6237\u9700\u6c42\u3001\u63d0\u4f9b\u6240\u9700\u5185\u5bb9

vast \/v\u00e6st\/<\/strong>
vast amounts of <\/strong>\u4fee\u9970\u4e0d\u53ef\u6570\u540d\u8bcd \u201cenergy\u201d\uff0c\u610f\u4e3a \u201c\u5927\u91cf\u7684\u201d\uff0c\u6bd4 \u201ca lot of\u201d \u66f4\u6b63\u5f0f\uff0c\u7a81\u51fa\u80fd\u8017\u89c4\u6a21\u3002

keep\u2026from overheatin<\/strong>g \u56fa\u5b9a\u642d\u914d\uff0c\u9632\u6b62\u2026\u2026 \u8fc7\u70ed
absorb the heat <\/strong> \/\u0259b\u02c8z\u0254\u02d0rb\/ \u5438\u6536\u70ed\u91cf\uff0c absorb\u201d \u7cbe\u51c6\u63cf\u8ff0\u7269\u8d28\u5438\u6536\u80fd\u91cf\u7684\u8fc7\u7a0b\uff0c\u6bd4 \u201ctake in\u201d \u66f4\u4e13\u4e1a\u3002

carry it off<\/strong> \u5e26\u8d70\u3001\u8f6c\u79fb \u201cit\u201d \u6307\u4ee3 \u201cheat\u201d\uff0c\u7b80\u6d01\u4f53\u73b0\u70ed\u91cf\u7684\u4f20\u8f93\u52a8\u4f5c\u3002
cooling towers<\/strong> \u51b7\u5374\u5854
evaporate<\/strong> \/\u026a\u02c8v\u00e6p\u0259re\u026at\/ <\/strong>\u84b8\u53d1
liter <\/strong> \/\u02c8li\u02d0t\u0259r\/ \u5347

cool servers<\/strong> \u201c\u51b7\u5374\u670d\u52a1\u5668\u201d
Estimates report \/\u02c8est\u026ame\u026ats\/ <\/strong>\u4f30\u7b97\u7ed3\u679c\u3001\u62a5\u544a
conventional \/k\u0259n\u02c8ven\u0283\u0259nl\/<\/strong> adj.<\/strong> \u4f20\u7edf\u7684\u3001\u5e38\u89c4\u7684
To put this into perspective<\/strong> \/p\u0259r\u02c8spekt\u026av\/ \u56fa\u5b9a\u77ed\u8bed\uff0c\u201c\u4e3a\u4e86\u66f4\u6e05\u6670\u5730\u7406\u89e3\u3001\u4e3a\u4e86\u76f4\u89c2\u8d77\u89c1\u201d
power<\/strong> v. \u201c\u4e3a\u2026\u2026 \u63d0\u4f9b\u52a8\u529b\u3001\u4f9b\u7535\u201d
the Empire State Building<\/strong> \u201c\u5e1d\u56fd\u5927\u53a6\u201d

globally<\/strong> \/’\u0261lo\u028ab\u0259l\u026a\/ adv. \u201c\u5728\u5168\u7403\u8303\u56f4\u5185\u201d
flushing their toilet at once<\/strong> \u201c\u540c\u65f6\u51b2\u9a6c\u6876\u201d
cool their servers<\/strong> \u201c\u51b7\u5374\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u670d\u52a1\u5668\u201d
fresh water<\/strong> \u201c\u6de1\u6c34\u201d

underway<\/strong> adj. \uff0c\u201c\u6b63\u5728\u8fdb\u884c\u7684\u3001\u5df2\u542f\u52a8\u7684\u201d
hardware <\/strong>\u786c\u4ef6
algorithms \/\u02c8\u00e6lg\u0259\u02ccr\u026a\u00f0\u0259mz\/<\/strong> \u7b97\u6cd5
renewable energy sources<\/strong> \/r\u026a\u02c8nu\u02d0\u0259bl\/ \u53ef\u518d\u751f\u80fd\u6e90

offset their carbon footprint<\/strong>\uff1a\u201c\u62b5\u6d88\u78b3\u8db3\u8ff9\u201d \u201coffset\u201d — \u201c\u62b5\u6d88\u3001\u5f25\u8865\u201d
Advances in<\/strong> \u201c\u5728\u2026\u2026 \u65b9\u9762\u7684\u8fdb\u6b65\u3001\u7a81\u7834\u201d
energy-efficient chips<\/strong> \u8282\u80fd\u82af\u7247\uff0cenergy-efficient — \u8282\u80fd\u7684
reduce energy demand<\/strong> \u964d\u4f4e\u80fd\u6e90\u9700\u6c42

over time<\/strong> \u968f\u7740\u65f6\u95f4\u7684\u63a8\u79fb\u3001\u9010\u6b65\u5730
For now<\/strong> \u76ee\u524d\u3001\u5f53\u4e0b
digital interactions<\/strong> \u6570\u5b57\u4ea4\u4e92
environmental cost<\/strong> \u73af\u5883\u4ee3\u4ef7

individual <\/strong> \/\u026and\u026a\u02c8v\u026ad\u0292u\u0259l\/ adj. \u5355\u72ec\u7684
negligible<\/strong> \/\u02c8ne\u0261l\u026ad\u0292\u0259bl\/ adj. \u201c\u5fae\u4e0d\u8db3\u9053\u7684\u3001\u53ef\u5ffd\u7565\u7684\u201d
collectively<\/strong> \/k\u0259\u02c8l\u025bkt\u026avli\/ adv. \uff0c\u201c\u5171\u540c\u5730\u3001\u603b\u4f53\u4e0a\u201d
contribute to\uff1a\u201c\u5bfc\u81f4\u3001\u4fc3\u6210\u201d
significant energy use and carbon emissions<\/strong> \/i\u02c8m\u026a\u0283nz\/ \u201c\u5927\u91cf\u7684\u80fd\u6e90\u6d88\u8017\u548c\u78b3\u6392\u653e\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n



<\/p>\n\n\n\n



<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, could soon consume as much energy as acountry the size of Ireland or the Netherlands, a new study has warned. Every time you prompt ChatGPT to generate an image or an explanation, thehost company\u2019s servers run thousands of calculations to deliver the goods. This process uses vast amounts of energy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,43,29],"class_list":["post-3957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","tag-english","tag-essay","tag-29"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3957"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4039,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957\/revisions\/4039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainyjames.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}