Asking an artificial intelligence chatbot questions uses up to 10 times as much energy as an internet search, going by recent reports by Goldman Sachs and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
Bots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT need 2.9 watt-hours to answer a request, compared with the 0.3 used when typing a query in Google Search, according to the EPRI, potentially placing huge pressure on electricity supplies around the world as AI use expands.
Echoing recent projections made by the International Energy Agency, the EPRI said the numbers mean the already-high power demands of internet data centres, which have helped force up the price of electricity for consumers, could double by 2026 as AI use soars.
"With 5.3 billion global internet users, widespread adoption of these tools could potentially lead to a step change in power requirements," the EPRI warned, saying AI demands could see data centres’ share of national electricity use in the US rise from 4% to almost 10% by 2030
The hubs, where vast cooling and air conditioning systems are needed to stop massive computers from overheating, likely account for around 2% of global electricity demand, according to Goldman Sachs, whose researchers see a doubling by 2028.
In Ireland, where internet giants such as Google and Facebook have European headquarters, data centres’ use of the national power supply rose from 5% in 2015 to 18% in 2022.
OpenAI chief Sam Altman said in January that more nuclear energy, including figuring out how to make fuel from fusion, would be needed to power AI. His comments followed a report published late last year that warned that by 2027, AI worldwide would be using as much electricity as entire countries like the Netherlands.