What's the real cost of using AI?

What's the real cost of using AI?

Every time you use AI, it uses electricity, produces a bit of carbon and drinks a little water. Almost nobody using it day to day has any real sense of how much.

Social media is full of claims about AI's energy use, ranging from wildly exaggerated to confidently wrong, and a lot of people, young people especially, pick these up and repeat them as fact. A single AI image isn't killing a polar bear (someone once said that to me in one of my talks!). But AI at scale genuinely isn't free either. It's not an ecological disaster, and equally it's not a rounding error either. The truth, like most things, is more nuanced than that.

I got tired of guessing what the impact is, and tired of watching everyone else guess too, so I built a calculator. You simply select how you use AI, how often, and where in the world you are, and it shows you the energy, carbon and water behind a day and a year of that habit. It's built on EcoLogits, which is an open methodology, and I've tuned it to UK grid figures rather than the US defaults most calculators use. It's free, it shows all the workings, gives simple comparisons, and you can export it as a PDF.

A quick AI chat costs almost nothing. A long coding session or a heavy daily habit adds up. Knowing the difference is what lets you make sensible choices instead of guessing, or panicking, or ignoring the question entirely.

If you want the fuller picture, my book Greener Intelligence goes much deeper into the research behind this, including the myths worth retiring.

But if you simply want to use the calculator you can use it here: https://thoughtprovoked.co.uk/guides/ai-footprint-calculator

But before you try it, what's your honest guess, compared to charging your phone? Once you've tried it, was it more or less than you expected?

Frequently asked questions

What environmental resources does using AI actually consume?

Every time you use AI, it consumes electricity, generates a small amount of carbon, and uses water. While a quick chat uses very little, heavy daily habits or long coding sessions add up over time. Using AI is neither an ecological disaster nor a rounding error, making it important to understand its true environmental impact.

Is generating a single AI image an ecological disaster?

No, generating a single AI image is not an ecological disaster, nor is it killing polar bears as some social media claims suggest. Much of the online information about AI energy use is exaggerated or incorrect. However, while individual queries cost almost nothing, using AI at scale genuinely has an environmental impact that should not be ignored.

How does the AI impact calculator work?

The free online calculator allows you to select how you use AI, how often, and your global location. It calculates the energy, carbon, and water behind a day and a year of that habit. Built on the open EcoLogits methodology, it is tuned to UK grid figures, provides simple comparisons, and allows you to export your results as a PDF.

Why does the calculator use UK grid figures rather than US defaults?

Most environmental calculators rely on standard US defaults. This calculator has been tuned specifically to UK grid figures rather than US figures. This provides users with clearer, more relevant data about the carbon, energy, and water behind their specific AI habits, allowing them to make sensible choices based on real workings rather than guessing or panicking.

Where can I find deeper research into the environmental footprint of AI?

If you want a fuller picture beyond the calculator, you can read the book Greener Intelligence. It goes much deeper into the research behind AI's environmental impact, exploring the energy, water, and carbon involved. It also covers the various myths worth retiring about AI's footprint, helping you move past social media exaggerations and confidently wrong claims.