Google reports that a median Gemini text prompt consumes about five drops of water (0.26 milliliters) and roughly 0.24 watt-hours of electricity, producing around 0.03 grams of CO2. Those estimates are lower than earlier research on water- and energy-intensive data centers, partly due to efficiency improvements. Experts contend that the estimates omit indirect water use and leave out key data points, producing an incomplete picture of Gemini's environmental impact. Shaolei Ren calls the omission "hiding the critical information" and warns that such claims spread the wrong message about AI's resource demands.
Google estimates that a median Gemini text prompt uses up about five drops of water, or 0.26 milliliters, and about as much electricity as watching TV for less than nine seconds, roughly 0.24 watt-hours (Wh), which produces around 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide emissions. Google's estimates are lower than previous research on water- and energy-intensive data centers that undergird generative AI models.
"They're just hiding the critical information." "They're just hiding the critical information," says Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside. "This really spreads the wrong message to the world." Ren has studied the water consumption and air pollution associated with AI, and is one of the authors of a paper Google mentions in its Gemini study.
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