Kayla Lewis

ELR Staffer FLS ‘27

As of March 14, 2025, ChatGPT has 400 million weekly active users and 122.58 million daily users. Since its public release on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT has become one of the most widely used AI tools.

ChatGPT is a conversational AI chatbot used for a wide range of tasks, including brainstorming, problem-solving, and generating images. With the success of ChatGPT and other generative AI models such as Claude and Google Gemini, the AI industry is evolving rapidly across the world, prompting new companies to attempt to emulate OpenAI’s success.

The Environmental Cost of AI: 

While ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it requires significantly more energy than a standard internet search. A single ChatGPT query consumes about 3 watt-hours of electricity—10 times more than a Google search.

As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, concerns over its environmental impact are growing. AI systems rely on data centers, which house the computing hardware necessary to train models and analyze data. These data centers:

• Require 800 kg of raw materials for every 2 kg of computer hardware.
• Consume up to 460 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—enough to power approximately 43.8 million U.S. households per year.

AI models depend on specialized computer chips within data centers to function. As these chips consume electricity and raw materials, they contribute to AI’s carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change acceleration.

The Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024: 

Due to AI’s rapid growth, there are currently no laws specifically regulating its environmental impact. However, the Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024, introduced on February 1, 2024, aims to address this issue.

The Act seeks to:

1. Study AI’s Environmental Impact – The EPA, NIST, and OSTP will analyze AI’s energy consumption, resource use, and overall footprint.
2. Establish an AI Environmental Consortium – Experts will develop measurement standards for AI’s environmental impact.
3. Create a Voluntary Reporting System – The NIST Director will develop a framework for companies to disclose the environmental impact of their AI systems, promoting transparency and sustainability.

The findings will be reported to Congress, including key discoveries, a description of the reporting system, and recommendations for legislative or administrative actions to reduce AI’s negative environmental effects and enhance its benefits.

How AI is Moving Toward Sustainability: 

AI also has the potential to bring environmental benefits, such as enhancing energy efficiency, reducing overall energy consumption, and assisting in environmental monitoring, including tracking air emissions.

One promising development is Green AI, which focuses on sustainable AI practices throughout its entire lifecycle—from development to deployment and maintenance. Unlike traditional AI, Green AI prioritizes energy efficiency and environmental responsibility while maintaining innovation.

So, What Can You Do?

On an individual level, reducing AI’s environmental impact can feel challenging since it has become part of daily life. However, choosing energy-efficient AI models can make a difference. For example, when using ChatGPT, you can select the appropriate model for your task – smaller models like ChatGPT 40 Mini or GPT-01 use significantly less energy than larger models like OpenAI’s GPT-03, which consumes 1,785 kWh per task. As AI continues to evolve, balancing innovation with sustainability is essential to minimizing environmental harm while maximizing its benefits.