As the use of artificial intelligence surges around the world, it is important to consider the environmental impacts. The environmental impact of other online services is more obvious than generative AI. With delivery services, the automobiles needed to transport a package across the nation present environmental damage. Purchasing from fast-fashion companies contributes to landfills and the use of sweatshop factories. Using generative AI like ChatGPT, however, does not present the same obvious physical impact. That said, AI does have environmental implications, which are just hard to pin down, let alone mitigate. 

For one, training generative AI models requires computational power, often that has billions of parameters, which demands a great deal of electricity. This electricity contributes to CO2 emissions and puts pressure on the electric grid. Additionally, even after the model has been trained, installing it into the market and fine-tuning it uses even more energy. 

The excessive use of water is another concern regarding AI. The hardware used to train and fine-tune these models heats up while performing, requiring water to cool it down. This strains local water supplies and disrupts ecosystems. 

While there is no doubt that AI has environmental impacts, according to Reuters and the International Monetary Fund in mid-April, the economic gains from artificial intelligence will boost global output by 0.5% a year between 2025 and 2030, possibly outweighing the environmental costs. 

Furthermore, AI can power environmentalist programs, presenting a duality to its environmental effects. One example of this is the United Nations Environmental Programme’s World Environmental Situation Room (WESR). Launched in 2022, it is a digital platform using AI to curate and visualize data on topics like CO2 atmospheric concentration and sea level rise.

Navigating the ways to use AI can be challenging, given its conflicting nature regarding the environment. The best thing users can do is to be aware of the impacts, not abuse AI’s abilities, and try using it to positively impact the environment around them.