My Dogs Legs and The Hidden Energy Cost of AI

Everyday AI From Siri to Deep Dives

Do you use ChatGPT much? I’m pretty impressed with Google’s AI summarizing component, so it’s not particularly necessary for my daily use. With my newer iPhone, I can ask Siri questions completely hands-free while driving. I tend to save ChatGPT for the heavy lifting, like generating a report on the effectiveness of glucosamine supplements for joint pain, summarizing the unexpected contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, or researching topics like nanotech dentistry and End-of-Life Doulas. I’m interested in many things; as the National Inquirer said, “inquiring minds want to know.”

A Curious Question About a Dog

The other day, I found myself staring at my dog Max’s legs again. They have always seemed a bit weird-looking to me. When he sits on his butt, he looks like a big kangaroo. When he lies down, tucking all four of his long legs inward, he resembles a 110-pound spider. His hind legs appear to be jointed in strange directions. I don’t recall having similar bizarre thoughts about my Alaskan Malamute from 50 years ago, or whenever I see a German Shepherd.

So, I finally decided to find out. I asked ChatGPT to compare the legs of a Belgian Malinois with those of a German Shepherd. She (all AI chatbots are “she” to me) provided a pretty elaborate answer that I didn’t quite fathom, and then suggested creating a diagram to illustrate the comparison better. “Sure,” I said. Five seconds later, she told me it would take a while and suggested she could speed things up if I upgraded to ChatGPT’s paid version. No thanks, I’m retired. I can afford to wait a couple of minutes.

The Hidden Cost of an AI Generated Diagram

Most responses to questions are virtually instant. AI searches are super-fast. So, when I heard that she was going to need more time, I envisioned hundreds of extra computer banks lighting up and another nuclear power plant kicking in, as the lights began to dim in some small town.

More and more power gauges began lighting up, just like the Krell furnaces did when they were supplying unlimited power to the monster of the id in the sci-fi classic movie, “Forbidden Planet.” How many thousands of gigawatts would it take for me to get my little diagram? How much was it costing ChatGPT? I’ve read that whenever we use AI like ChatGPT instead of a simple Google search, it consumes 3.3 times more energy, resulting in a significantly larger carbon footprint. I had no idea of the extent of the energy havoc I was wreaking just by wanting to know about my dog’s goofy legs.

AIs Growing Environmental Footprint

If you’ve been following the growth of AI, you’ve heard about the enormous quantity of energy and computers required to operate their data centers. AI companies are building data centers near geothermal energy sources to power their generators. The compact nuclear reactor industry has skyrocketed as it seeks to meet this new demand. Microsoft is even trying to restart the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear reactor to power its data centers. There are news reports about massive data centers built in rural locations, whose hundreds of cooling fans are disrupting the quiet countryside.

A Massive Misuse of Resources

I don’t know where it’s all going to end. I can imagine the massive additional resources that would have kicked in if I had been a subscriber to the upgraded version of ChatGPT. And you know, when I finally got the diagram comparing the legs, there was hardly anything to it. I didn’t see much of a difference. After a massively grotesque misuse of resources and the accompanying damage to the environment, I still didn’t understand what was going on with Max’s legs.