What's the carbon footprint of ChatGPT?

SINCE its launch at the end of 2022, the artificial intelligence service ChatGPT has been the focus of much discussion.

This new generative AI tool is able to produce various kinds of text for many daily uses, from finding information to summarising books and detailing cooking recipes. Some internet users even use it to write cover letters or best man speeches for weddings!

Interest in ChatGPT increased in March with the release of the even more sophisticated and powerful GPT-4 version. But every innovation has an ecological cost, as has been seen with other recent technologies, such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs. And, inevitably, ChatGPT is no exception.

The French application and platform Greenly, which allows companies to evaluate their CO2 emissions in real time, has taken a look at the potential carbon footprint of ChatGPT-3.

According to Greenly's estimates, the GPT-3 version of the AI service could have a footprint of some 240 tonnes of CO2e, the equivalent of 136 return flights between Paris and New York.

ChatGPT-3's main source of energy consumption lies in the data centers deployed to run the service. The learning systems alone account for 99% of total emissions, or 238 tCO2e per year. In detail, operating electricity accounts for three quarters of that footprint (ie, 160 tCO2e), followed by server manufacturing (68.9 tCO2e) and refrigerant gas leakage (9.6 tCO2e), the report says.

The remaining two tonnes of the carbon footprint evaluated by Greenly relate to the design of the tool and its use, with processes such as data storage, data transfer, and the search process.

This calculation is based on the scenario of a company using ChatGPT to automatically send one million emails per month over a one-year period. This puts into perspective the general enthusiasm for the tool, which is seen as revolutionary in many ways.

So in spite of ChatGPT's compelling performance, says Greenly climate expert Tommy Catherine, it's fair to ask whether it's worth the environmental cost, because with every technological advance, carbon emissions increase significantly. – ETX Daily Up, April 22, 2023