As the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to accelerate, many have raised concerns—especially on social media—about the technology’s equally accelerated energy consumption.
However, a new study challenges this idea, suggesting that AI may not be driving up greenhouse gas emissions at a concerning rate and that its environmental impact is surprisingly small, potentially even having environmental benefits.
Researchers with the University of Waterloo and the Georgia Institute of Technology examined the U.S. economy and estimates of AI adoption rates across industries to determine the potential environmental fallout if AI use continues on its current upward path. Their findings showed that while AI consumes significant amounts of energy, its overall contribution to national or global emissions is minimal.
“It is important to note that the increase in energy use is not going to be uniform. It’s going to be felt more in the places where electricity is produced to power the data centres,” said Dr. Juan Moreno-Cruz, a professor in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo and Canada Research Chair in Energy Transitions, said in a statement.
“If you look at that energy from the local perspective, that’s a big deal because some places could see double the amount of electricity output and emissions,” Moreno-Cruz said. “But at a larger scale, AI’s use of energy won’t be noticeable.”
Moreno-Cruz and co-author Dr. Anthony Harding, an environmental economist at Georgia Tech, analyzed different economic sectors, the jobs within those sectors, and the proportion of tasks that could be automated with AI. Their approach combined economic modeling with estimates of AI systems’ energy use, creating a detailed picture of AI’s environmental footprint.
Surprisingly, the researchers found a positive upside to AI consumption: it could potentially contribute to a stable environment by improving energy efficiency and accelerating the development of green technologies.
Fundamentally, Moreno-Cruz emphasizes that fears about AI as a climate threat may be overstated. “For people who believe that the use of AI will be a major problem for the climate and think we should avoid it, we’re offering a different perspective,” he said. “The effects on climate are not that significant, and we can use AI to develop green technologies or to improve existing ones.”
While the recent study focused only on the United States, the authors plan to expand their research to other countries to gain a better perspective on the global impact of AI adoption on energy use and emissions.
The study, “Watts and Bots: The Energy Implications of AI Adoption,” appears in Environmental Research Letters.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and the founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on YouTube and on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton, Instagram: @BeingChrissyNewton, and chrissynewton.com.