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Worried about AI's soaring energy needs? Avoiding chatbots won't help - but 3 things could

Your ChatGPT query isn't the problem. We break down all your AI, energy, and emissions questions, plus offer tips on how to use AI as responsibly as possible.

Google just published estimates of its Gemini chatbot's emissions, energy, and water usage, which are lower than predicted; though they haven't been vetted by a third party, and the data itself is not public, the company says its methodology takes into account factors that inflated calculations overlooked. "The projected growth of AI data centers and their power needs already means that non-renewable and less clean sources of energy" -- like coal and natural gas -- "will likely be used in the short term," Yuvraj Agarwal, a software professor at Carnegie Mellon University, explained to ZDNET. In addition to these goals, Michelle Thorne, director of strategy at The Green Web Foundation-- a nonprofit "working towards a fossil-free internet" -- urged tech companies to phase out fossil fuels across their supply chains and when mining for raw materials.

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