Our results reveal that AI systems emit between 130 and 1,500 times less CO2 equivalent per page of generated text compared to human writers, while AI illustration systems emit between 310 and 2,900 times less carbon dioxide. CO2 equivalent per image than their human counterparts.
It’s from a recent article on Nature by Tomlinson, Black, Patterson and Torrance on AI’s carbon-friendliness. On the one hand, this is reassuring, although it is of course worth noting that AI’s carbon emissions potential comes largely from additional economic activity (and query activity) that it can allow. Perhaps we can view this as another example of Jevon’s Law, that energy saving technology, in the long run, also increases energy demand, thereby taking back some or all of the energy savings initially gained.
Via Jim Pethokoukis.
