SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS - WE PROBABLY SHOULD!

by Larry Powell

Chat GPT generated this image, representing AI. No humans are present.
Author: Alenoach.

Findings by a team of Dutch scientists, just published in *Science Direct show, AI systems globally may well have produced well over 72m tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2025 alone. That’s the equivalent of all of New York City’s carbon footprint for that year. 

They may have also consumed 765 billion litres of water in that same time span. That’s in the range of all of the bottled water consumed, worldwide.

And their power demand could approach that of a country the size of the United Kingdom.

AI data center operators do not publicly disclose the detail needed for more precise figures. So the findings are estimates only. 

"Further disclosures are urgently required," say the researchers, "to improve the accuracy of these estimates and to responsibly manage the growing environmental impact of AI systems.” They further suggest the AI sector be required to provide such vital information. 

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*ScienceDirect is a go-to resource for finding authoritative, peer-reviewed research in nearly every scientific field, leveraging digital technology for broad accessibility and efficient discovery.