It has a role in everything from safeguarding the environment and conserving natural resources to drug discovery and diagnosing health conditions.
Widespread and powerful
Until recently, AI had only a modest impact on global energy consumption. Now, AI applications are becoming more widespread and much more powerful.
Generative AI applications – which can create new data such as stories, conversations, articles, computer code, images, and music in seconds – are especially power-hungry.
For example, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) estimates that a user query on early models of Open AI’s ChatGPT application used about 10 times as much electricity as one Google search (this was before Google added generative AI functions to its search results).
Generative AI is increasingly part of many digital services, and while it’s not responsible for all data center energy use, its rise is coinciding with an expected doubling of data center power consumption between 2022 and 2026.
By 2030, data centers could consume up to 9.1% of all electricity generation in the U.S., up from 4% in 2024.
Mitigating its impact
In this article, leading researchers and technologists explain what makes generative AI so energy-intensive and highlight the impact it has on power grids and other consumers of electricity.
We also explore the roles academia, industry, policymakers, and end users can play in managing AI’s energy demands without stifling innovation.