I WONDER ABOUT how the work I do impacts the world around me. Do the words I write help or hinder the people who read them? How does my role in advertising a medicine impact its pricing? After all, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and I find it important to consider those reactions. So, as a writer being told that AI is the next big thing, I wanted to explore what impacts it has on the world.
I’ll start with a discussion on the environmental impacts of generative AI. Electricity and water are consumed in the creation of GPU chips as well as in the maintenance of its data centers. That isn’t unique, every process in the modern world uses those resources. The question is, then, how much do they use?
According to various reports, the electric usage of AI is staggering, with chips shipped in 2023 and 2024 alone consuming the equivalent of 1.3 million US households1 and ChatGPT using 10 times the electricity as a google search.2 This puts an increased demand on our power grids, driving up costs and encouraging fossil fuel use to maintain output.
When it comes to water, the demand from AI could reach the equivalent of the water consumption of 4-6 Denmarks.3 Many areas of the world already struggle with having drinkable water for their population, so the increased strain on the resource is worrying.
As I write this piece, my home state of Ohio is experiencing a drought during the 4th hottest summer in recorded history. The grass is dead and brown, rivers are low. Water reserves are being tapped into and rolling blackouts are being used to help manage demand. I lay on my floor, sweating in the heat, while data centers are being cooled with water people could’ve drank.
My other concerns regard ethics. AI models need to be trained on preexisting material. That in and of itself isn’t an issue, but the problem comes in the form of what data is used. There are currently no regulations on what AI can train on, so right now it is using copyrighted materials without the consent of the creators.4 This is, to be blunt, theft. As a writer, I find the notion that someone could upload my work into a model without my permission to be at best uncomfortable, and at worst, violating.
So, what can be done to lessen these concerns? When it comes to the environment, investing into renewable energy sources such as solar and wind can help offset the power usage. When it comes to my ethical concerns, supporting legislation to crack down on the theft of art is a must. Companies that that have already trained their models on stolen materials need to compensate those they have wronged.
But until then, I WONDER IF we shouldn’t use generative AI until there is sufficient legislation and infrastructure to handle it. At the very least, I’m asking you to ponder before you prompt: what is the equal reaction to your action?
REFERENCES:
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethkindig/2024/06/20/ai-power-consumption-rapidly-becoming-mission-critical/. 2. https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/AI-poised-to-drive-160-increase-in-power-demand 3. ‘Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models’ Pengfei Li, Jianyi Yang, Mohammad A. Islam, Shaolei Ren. 4. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/08/ai-tools-chatgpt-copyrighted-material-openai.
