The ugly truth behind ChatGPT: AI is guzzling resources at planet-eating rates

The Guardian

Big tech is playing its part in reaching net zero targets, but its vast new datacentres are run at huge cost to the environment. (...)

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A lithium mine in the Atacama desert, Chile, in 2022. Photograph: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images.

Despite its name, the infrastructure used by the “cloud” accounts for more global greenhouse emissions than commercial flights. (...)

This is a hugely environmentally destructive side to the tech industry. While it has played a big role in reaching net zero, giving us smart meters and efficient solar, it’s critical that we turn the spotlight on its environmental footprint. Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all. (...)

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Tags: #big_tech #environment #datacentre #cloud_service #greenhouse_emissions #climate #climate_change #climate_crisis #ai #artificial_intelligence #energy

The whole cloud business should be reviewed. For movies maybe we should go back to the old DVD

Streaming’s dirty secret: how viewing Netflix top 10 creates vast quantity of CO2

The Guardian

Explosion in popularity of shows on Disney+ to YouTube raises question of impact on planet

Streaming has a dirty secret. The carbon footprint produced by fans watching a month of Netflix’s top 10 global TV hits is equivalent to driving a car a hefty distance beyond Saturn. (...)

Every activity in the chain required to stream video, from the use of huge datacentres and transmission over wifi and broadband to watching the content on a device, requires electricity – the majority of which is generated by emitting greenhouse gases. (...)

The growth in internet traffic has been stratospheric in the last few years, with as much as 80% of the data capacity taken up by the popularity of the bandwidth-heavy services of a handful of companies such as Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, Activision Blizzard, which makes Call of Duty, and Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite. (...)

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Every activity required to stream video, from the use of huge datacentres to transmission over wifi and broadband, requires electricity. Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock.

Tag: #climate #climate_crisis #climate_change #global_warming #co2 #fossil_fuel #cloud_service #cloud_storage #streaming #streaming_service #pollution #air_pollution #youtube #netflix #disney #disney+ #prime_video #facebook #activision_blizzard #games #epic_games