How Sustainable is AI?

AI can be a helpful tool, but it also has a significant environmental impact. The rapid growth of AI is increasing the demand for data centres, electricity and water around the world.

Small changes, such as choosing AI only when it’s genuinely useful, can make a difference.

Here are a few statistics that might surprise you:

● By 2030, data centres are predicted to emit 3x more CO₂ annually than they would have without the AI development boom. (Source: Morgan Stanley, 2024)
● Unmitigated AI use could consume enough water each year to match the household usage of 6-10 million people. (Source: Cornell, 2025)
● Training GPT-3 generated as much CO₂ as approximately 300 round trips between New York and San Francisco. (Source: University of Massachusetts, 2019)
● One year of ChatGPT usage uses enough electricity to power 35,000 US homes. (Source: Jegham et al, 2025)
● One year of Chat GPT usage evaporates water equivalent to the drinking needs of 1.2 million people. (Source: Jegham et al, 2025)
● Offsetting ChatGPT’s annual carbon emissions would require a forest the size of Chicago. (Jegham et al, 2025)

Source: The Open University Library