{"id":539017,"date":"2026-03-14T02:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/539017\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T02:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:12:07","slug":"the-environmental-cost-of-datacentres-is-rising-is-it-time-to-quit-ai-ai-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/539017\/","title":{"rendered":"The environmental cost of datacentres is rising. Is it time to quit AI? | AI (artificial intelligence)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s only a few years on from the release of ChatGPT<\/a> but the race to plug artificial intelligence into everything has sparked a surge in datacentres, with escalating environmental costs.<\/p>\n

Globally, datacentre power demand is growing four times faster<\/a> than all other sectors, according to the International Energy Agency, and is on track to exceed Japan\u2019s electricity use by 2030.<\/p>\n

In Australia, the energy market operator expects datacentre energy demand to triple within five years, surpassing the electricity used by the nation\u2019s fleet of electric vehicles by 2030. Authorities also anticipate significant demand on drinking water supplies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the QuitGPT movement<\/a> \u2013 a boycott of AI over its use for surveillance and weapons \u2013 gathers steam, should people concerned about AI\u2019s environmental impacts also consider opting out?<\/p>\n

How bad is AI for the environment?<\/p>\n

There are varying estimates but most studies say generative AI models \u2013 which generate text, images and video \u2013 consume \u201corders of magnitude\u201d<\/a> more energy than traditional computing methods.<\/p>\n

Some estimates suggest it\u2019s five times more energy<\/a>, others say it could be significantly higher. Much depends on the specific model<\/a> or type of query.<\/p>\n

Prof Jeannie Paterson, co-director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics at the University of Melbourne, says part of the problem is the limited transparency from tech companies about the energy, water and emissions impacts of AI and datacentres.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s clear that training models and running datacentres is an energy intensive task\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cConsumer software that generates text, images and videos are uniquely energy inefficient,\u201d says Ketan Joshi, an Oslo-based climate analyst associated with the Australia Institute, due to the \u201cvast datasets and computational strain of pattern-matching that happens underneath the hood\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asking an AI chatbot a question consumes a great deal more energy than finding the answer via simple web search or calculator. It adds extra demand for no good reason, he says, a bit like driving to the shops in an SUV instead of riding your bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might still get the shopping done, and that single trip alone may not even look all that bad in terms of cost or emissions, but what happens when that\u2019s all of your trips, and when all of society starts doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n

One study published in the journal Patterns<\/a> estimates AI\u2019s global carbon footprint as 32.6 to 79.7m tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2025, and its water use as 312.5 to 764.6bn litres \u2013 similar to the global consumption of bottled water.<\/p>\n

double quotation markWe still have a chance to express our views about what and how we want AI to be used.Prof Jeannie Paterson<\/p>\n

In Australia, the growth of datacentres for processing and storing AI data is forecast to<\/a> slow the energy transition, grow emissions and increase power costs for consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of energy demand for unclear or small societal benefit,\u201d Joshi says. \u201cCompare that to the global benefit of video-calling technology, which has reduced flights and enabled communication during the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI is everywhere. Is it possible to opt out?<\/p>\n

AI tools are becoming embedded in workplace and educational software, and in chatbots used by banks and local governments. Increasingly, generative AI is being rolled out in supermarket self-checkouts, in facial recognition at hardware stores and for transcribing doctors\u2019 notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re becoming immersed in this technology,\u201d Paterson says. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to avoid.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we still have a chance to express our views about what and how we want AI to be used.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are many small ways to limit use \u2013 such as saving energy by switching off lights or appliances. People can unsubscribe from AI platforms, exclude AI results from search (for example, by adding \u201c-AI\u201d to the end of a search query) or avoid using it for unnecessary or energy-intensive tasks such as text-to-video prompts, or AI-generated images for celebrations or work presentations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeta, Google and Microsoft have all baked [generative AI] deep into their systems,\u201d Joshi says. \u201cI see this all as very much part of the tactic of trying to embed these systems into society and instil dependency in a fashion similar to the growth of single-use plastics in the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opting out can be a \u201cmeaningful act of resistance\u201d, Joshi says. \u201cIt\u2019s partly about not creating that energy demand but mostly about being part of broad collective action against [a] corrosive, harmful industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consumer boycotts can be powerful, he says, but he is disheartened by QuitGPT\u2019s funnelling of users from one platform to another, rather than quitting AI entirely. QuitGPT has been encouraging users to cancel ChatGPT, while promoting the use of Anthropic\u2019s Claude. It feels like a \u201ccynical exploitation\u201d of widespread opposition to AI, he says.<\/p>\n

What about the impacts of datacentres on local communities?<\/p>\n

Datacentres \u2013 rapidly growing in number and size \u2013 are the physical embodiment of the AI boom. There are growing calls for the industry to be held accountable for its environmental impacts.<\/p>\n

A coalition of energy and environment groups, including the Clean Energy Council, Electrical Trades Union, Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Climate Energy Finance, have proposed a set of \u201cpublic interest principles for datacentres\u201d that include investing in new renewable energy and using water responsibly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to build a datacentre, you should have to build the renewables and water recycling to power it,\u201d the ACF chief executive, Adam Bandt, says. \u201cBig tech corporations should be forced to do their fair share so they don\u2019t drain our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with energy, water and emissions, there can be local impacts on communities and wildlife living near datacentres<\/a> \u2013 massive warehouse-like facilities, with 24-7 lighting and the sound of air conditioners continuously running.<\/p>\n

Some communities have taken matters into their own hands, campaigning against<\/a> giant datacentres proposed in their local area.<\/p>\n

These nondescript buildings are often built in clusters, says Dr Bronwyn Cumbo, a transdisciplinary social researcher at the University of Technology Sydney. Often \u201cit\u2019s an industrial hub\u201d rather than one datacentre, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it\u2019s in their interest to communicate, engage with the community, incorporate local knowledge, think about the local concerns, because they do want to be a good neighbour. But the incentive to be a good neighbour really depends on the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cumbo says conversations about the relationship between AI and the physical environment and its social, political, economic implications are coming to a head.<\/p>\n

Raising awareness is important, she says, so communities can think critically and know what questions to ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an inevitability to AI being part of our lives but how it\u2019s part of our lives is something we can definitely control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s only a few years on from the release of ChatGPT but the race to plug artificial intelligence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-539017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}