Environment Resources

The complete list of resources found and used for episode 2 of ChatGPT Curious.

How much energy does ChatGPT use?
- https://epoch.ai/gradient-updates/how-much-energy-does-chatgpt-use
Does ChatGPT use 10x more energy than a standard Google search?
- https://engineeringprompts.substack.com/p/does-chatgpt-use-10x-more-energy
Sam Altman’s blog post:
- https://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity
De Vries, A. 2023. The growing energy footprint of artificial intelligence:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435123003653?dgcid=author#bib6
Focus: For tech giants, AI like Bing and Bard poses billion-dollar search problem:
- https://www.reuters.com/technology/tech-giants-ai-like-bing-bard-poses-billion-dollar-search-problem-2023-02-22/
Powering a Google search:
- https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/powering-google-search.html
The Inference Cost Of Search Disruption – Large Language Model Cost Analysis:
- https://semianalysis.com/2023/02/09/the-inference-cost-of-search-disruption/
Chatbot Arena: An Open Platform for Evaluating LLMs by Human Preference:
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.04132
Emissions from ChatGPT are much higher than from conventional search (updated):
- https://limited.systems/articles/google-search-vs-chatgpt-emissions/
ChatGPT Statistics & Total Users (2025): DAU & MAU Data:
- https://www.demandsage.com/chatgpt-statistics/
How We Use Water:
- https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water#Understanding%20Water%20Use
What is a water footprint?
- https://www.waterfootprint.org/water-footprint-2/what-is-a-water-footprint/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
AI Problems Index:
- https://ai-problems-index.vercel.app/environmental-impact#distinctions
Making AI Less Thirsty:
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3724499?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment:
- https://andymasley.substack.com/p/individual-ai-use-is-not-bad-for
There’s Plenty of Water for Data Centers:
- https://www.slowboring.com/p/theres-plenty-of-water-for-data-centers
US EIA FAQ:
- https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3
Water-Energy Connection:
- https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/www3/region9/waterinfrastructure/waterenergy.html
Artificial Intelligence: Big Tech’s Big Threat to Our Water and Climate:
- https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/04/09/artificial-intelligence-water-climate
Water Use Across the Conterminous United States, Water Years 2010–20:
- https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/pp1894D/full