The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is sounding the alarm on the environmental consequences of the latest fads in genAI, warning that the public remains largely unaware of the strain popular AI trends are placing on global water resources.

As viral AI trends turn people into pocket-sized dolls and action figures, new figures from the IET reveal that only 16% of the public are aware of the environmental impact behind such AI use.

Studies estimate that ChatGPT needs to consume the equivalent of one 500ml bottle of water for every 100-word request, however, in a survey of 2,000 UK adults, the IET found that nearly one-third mistakenly believed that crafting a 100-word email with AI requires no water at all.

The IET’s study, Simplistic Searches on Large Language Models Are Bad for the Environment found almost half (49%) of the UK have casually experimented with the technology, with some people admitting to inputting flippant queries such as ‘what is one plus one’, ‘what day is it’, and ‘what is the weather’.

On average, the IET study found that UK adults now use AI on average at least once a week for tasks including writing emails (50%), creating presentations (48%) and project planning (48%), as well as home tasks such as writing shopping lists (46%). 

However, other uses of the platform reported include writing card messages, asking how to boil an egg, what’s the meaning of life, and telling a joke.

That increasing usage is hitting the environment hard – training ChatGPT 3 alone is estimated to have used 1,300 MWh of electricity, the equivalent of 1,625,000 hours spent watching Netflix.

Positively, 60% of respondents said they would reduce their AI usage after they became aware of the significant energy required to run a request, but the IET argues that with the popularity of AI fads growing at pace, more needs to be done.

“While AI creations can be entertaining, they come with significant environmental and financial costs, which will only escalate as AI adoption grows,” said Professor Peter Bannister, chair of the IET’s Sustainability and Net Zero Policy Centre.

“For the public, there are ways to reduce the environmental impact straight away, such as asking if you really need to use these platforms – can you find this information another way?

“We’re already aware of the benefits of recycling and conserving water by turning off taps when not in use. The next phase of consumer awareness involves being selective about the technology we use and optimising its efficiency.”

To mitigate the environmental toll of AI use, the IET recommended that users should carefully consider their inputs and first look to find information via a traditional search engine, which is far less intensive on the environment. 

When using AI tools like ChatGPT, they should also provide as much detail as possible in the first instance, trying to minimise errors and avoid repeated requests which mean more water being consumed.

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This is not just the responsibility of the public, though, with the IET stressing that government regulations should begin to look beyond the immediate challenges of AI development and rollout to the much broader impact the technology will have on the planet.

As AI regulations take shape, the IET said world leaders should consider ways to mitigate the high energy requirements and usage of data centres and network infrastructure.

“Current data centres are unsustainable without greener infrastructure, so we need to see government support for green technologies by building sustainability into appropriate regulation of new and expanding technologies,” said Dr Graham Herries, chair of the IET’s Digital Futures Policy Centre.

“We need to see alternative methods for new AI models to learn more effectively and encourage greater re-use of this learning. This isn’t an easy task, but we need sustainable innovation to be the future.

“By focusing on carbon-efficient AI and technologies, the UK has the potential to become a leader in the global AI economy.”