How is AI affecting the environment?

Article written by: Sanika Lovlekar

Article designed by: Sanika Lovlekar & Sanvi Desai

Introduction

A common topic which is generally brought up during practical conversations is “Will AI take over the world and will it replace human jobs?” Whether the answer to this question is yes or no, AI surely damages our planet. Even if AI doesn’t replace every single job in the world, if we continue to misuse it, the condition of Earth’s natural environment will decay. 

Over time, as AI gains more data, it figures out patterns and learns how to react in certain situations. This quickly advances AI as time passes by and more people are inclined to use it. Thankfully, nowadays more people are realizing how AI is negatively affecting our environment. 

Image by WIX.AI

Behind the Scenes

AI functions because of massive data centers. Data centers are large buildings filled with several racks of AI servers. AI servers need a lot of water and energy to function. AI servers often overheat because many people currently use AI. In order to cool down the servers, cold water is necessary to absorb the servers’ heat. Where do the servers get the water from though? CEOs of big tech companies often build their AI servers close to fresh water rivers to cool them off. AI servers use up so much fresh water which we could use for our daily activities. 

On the other hand, AI servers also use plenty of electricity. After all, the increased use of AI to help with research, homework, coding, and other activities can only lead to a higher usage of power for data centers. Not only are data centers drinking up water, but they are also eating up valuable electricity!

As of right now, The United States of America has the most data centers in the world. Canada is a preferred place for data centers to be built because of its colder climate. Norway and Sweden use 100% renewable energy from hydropower for their data centers. All these places still use water to cool down their servers and significant amounts of electricity is used to power AI operations.

Statistics

A data center which is medium-sized needs around 110 million gallons of water per year to cool off servers. That’s the same amount of water that around 1000 families can use for household purposes! Big data centers can consume 5 million gallons of water per day. That is 1.8 billion gallons of water per year which a town of 10000-50000 people could have used. The United States of America currently has 5426 data centers nationwide. Just imagine how much water is being used by every single one of them combined! The most current reports conclude that 4.4% of energy used in the United States of America is consumed by AI.

Image by IMD Business School

Concluding Remarks

So next time you feel too lazy to write an email to your teacher or solve a complex math problem, don’t resort to asking ChatGPT. Instead, think about the negative effects of AI on our planet before asking AI to solve your problems for you!

Works Cited

• “Artificial intelligence (AI): a simple-to-understand guide.” Google, cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence 

• O’Donnel, James and Casey Crownhart. “We Did the Math on AI’s Energy Footprint. Here’s the Story You Haven’t Heard.” MIT Technology Review, 22 Sep. 2025, www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech/

• Tomás, Juan Pedro. “AI Infrastructure: Top Six Locations.” RCR Wireless News, 1 May 2025, www.rcrwireless.com/20250501/fundamentals/top-ai-infrastructure 

• Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel. “Data Centers and Water Consumption,” EESI, 25 Jun. 2025, www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption