A popular phenomenon is taking the world by storm, surprising people with its capability and functionality—artificial intelligence (AI). AI has many positive attributes, but also many environmental consequences.

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence, colloquially known as AI, refers to computer systems that perform complex tasks usually done by humans, according to NASA. Training AI takes from weeks to months, and models require constant retraining to stay up to date. As well as everyday assistants such as Siri and Alexa, almost all social applications involve AI in one way or another. For example, Snapchat has a chatbot that users interact with millions of times a day. Similar chatbots are embedded into Meta apps such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. Chatbots are also very popular as apps on their own: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Sora. 

Chatbots aren’t the only use of AI; schools and various workplaces use AI for a plethora of reasons. For instance, personalized learning — such as school-mandated programs — uses AI to figure out what academic level students are on and give them individualized lessons they would benefit from. Similarly, in schools, some teachers use AI to create lesson plans, and students often cheat on schoolwork with AI-driven apps. Employees in workplaces also use AI to automate repetitive and easy tasks, one example of this being Grammarly. Rather than only completing menial tasks, AI is being used to completely replace workers; as AI continually does this, people are losing their jobs.

AI and Resources 

There are various data centers used to power AI worldwide. These centers train AI, which can take weeks to months. AI needs constant retraining to stay up to date and relevant with new information, which requires 5 million gallons of water per day by large data centers according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. It also produces pollution and e-waste–discarded or broken electronic equipment–according to the United Nations. 

Data centers use water for cooling, preventing computers from overheating. This can strain municipal water supplies and disrupt local ecosystems, as reported by MIT News. 

Google is one company that uses enormous amounts of water to fuel AI. There is no permanent way around AI overviews, clicking the “Web” filter after a search turns it off for that specific search, but only temporarily. According to The Verge, the average Google search with an AI overview consumes .26 ml of water. With around 14 billion Google searches per day, 3.64 million liters of water are being used daily to simply power the AI search feature. This waste is only from one app—thousands of others use AI. 

Along with this, The United Nations states that although AI is digital, the physical requirements of the data centers include ceramics, and various metals. The Vermont Journal of Environmental Law more specifically explains the impact of data center’s demand for copper. Copper is a critical material, since it is necessary for the functioning of modern society, and if these data centers continue to grow the demand for copper will increase by 1 million metric tons by 2023. The minerals to create these tools are often mined unsustainably. Mining can lead to drastic change in land and pollution that has countless indirect ripple effects on the environment, according to earth.org. 

The World Health Organization describes e-waste as electrical and electronic devices that are discarded or thrown away. This, along with other pollutants produced by data centers, pose extreme threats to ecosystems. According to Earthday.org, pollution is dangerous to wildlife because they could consume pollution, and it could take over their habitat. In terms of pollution, e-waste is unique in that it can release over 100 different chemical substances into the environment, according to The World Health Organization. 

AI and Climate Change 

AI data centers require loads of energy, which is produced through the burning of fossil fuels and leads to the production of greenhouse gases, according to the UN environment programme. 

This poses extreme threats to the environment, as polluting gases like carbon dioxide—which is heavily produced by data centers—trap the earth’s outgoing energy and retains heat in the atmosphere, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Earth is approaching tipping points, or points that change an ecosystem to a different state, due to rapid global warming. The NRDC also states that the introduction of AI has increased the rate at which ecosystems reach these points of change. 

According to IEA AI and Climate Change, data centers have the highest emissions growth among all sectors. In 2024, data centers accounted for 0.5% of combustion emissions, and indirect emissions produced by data centers grew by nearly 80% in the last five years. Since only 0.5% of combustion emissions is accounted for by data centers, this increase may not seem very impactful at first, but any small change can greatly shorten the amount of time until the tipping point of ecosystems. 

Impacts On Us

Although the digital world seems as if it only lives within electronic devices, it has significant effects on the planet. AI has a significant effect on the atmosphere that could inflict misfortunes on humans.

To supply data centers with water, large quantities of freshwater are being taken from local lakes, often leaving nearby residents with little water flow. As stated in a BBC News article, Beverly Morris, who lives just 400 yards from a Meta-owned data center in Mansfield, Georgia, reported her home having sediment-filled water and little to no water pressure as a result of her proximity to the center.

Climate change disrupts ecosystems and biodiversity, and causes an increased amount of natural disasters such as flooding, droughts, and storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to the EPA, climate change also calls for agricultural methods to be modified. With the climate rapidly changing, farmers would need to irrigate their soil more often, ultimately leading to more water waste. 

The production of e-waste doesn’t just have a negative effect on ecosystems. The pollutants are predicted to cause 1,300 premature human deaths annually by 2030, according to Caltech. Cancer, asthma, and other diseases are the predicted causes of these deaths. 

People living near data centers are most likely to be affected by these diseases because of increased exposure to dangerous pollutants. inflated measures of these pollutants. As mentioned by BBC News, most data centers are being built in rural areas across the U.S.– primarily due to the extensive surplus of resources. Small-town people are being affected most by these pollutants because of their proximity to the data centers.