ChatGPT may have all the answers, but apparently, it’s also killing the environment and elevating climate change.
The data centers that power and cool the processors appear to be erasing many of the gains from wind, solar and nuclear energy.
“The big problem is the power they consume and the water they consume,” Eliot Jacobson said on the most recent episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. “Those are the two resources that are most critical on the planet. As droughts happen in the west, rivers dry up globally, groundwater is depleted, we suddenly have AI sucking water.”
Watch the Santa Barbara Talks podcast with Josh Molina by clicking on the YouTube video below.
Jacobson is a retired professor of mathematics and computer science. He held tenured positions at Ohio University and UCSB before retiring. In retirement, he has emerged as a key source on cable television and the internet for his analysis of environmental trends.
He is a self-professed “Doomer,” which means he believes it is too late to save the planet for humans, and that instead we should save the Earth for the next species after the sixth great extinction.
On Bluesky, Jacobson has 23,000 followers; on X, he has 77,000 followers. He has appeared multiple times on CNN, CNN International and other shows. He lives in Santa Barbara.
Jacobson said “the power consumption of global AI is the same as about all of the power consumption of England.”
In this episode, Jacobson talks about overconsumption and the massive amounts of wealth that exist in parts of the world.
“There’s so much wealth — no, such incredible wealth — the kids today are growing up with that wealth, they have these (smartphones) in their hands from age 5, 10,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson said a simple query in AI might use a tablespoon of water and an AI-created image used about two cups of water.
In this episode, Jacobson also talks about how melting ice in Greenland is disrupting the jet streams, a condition known as Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC.
Jacobson also talks about Jevon’s paradox, the idea that increases in energy efficiency actually lead to more consumption, which is a net negative on the environment.
Joshua Molina is a journalist and college instructor who interviews a wide variety of people on the issues of education, housing, politics, culture and business. He is a former reporter at the San Jose Mercury News. He also teaches at a community college. Visit SantaBarbaraTalks.com to sign up for his newsletter and make a contribution to this individually owned podcast.