Generating images with AI consumes as much energy as charging a smartphone!
Artificial intelligence, often in the spotlight with claims like “it will take away jobs” or “it will take over the world,” is now making headlines for its energy consumption. According to recent reports, generating a single image using generative AI consumes as much energy as charging an average smartphone.
As one of the greatest inventions of our time, artificial intelligence continues to transform nearly every industry, but the substantial energy consumption associated with AI remains a topic of debate.
According to a report by the American investment bank Goldman Sachs, while energy consumption in data centers has remained steady for years, the rapid growth of generative AI tools is expected to increase data center energy demand by 160% by 2030.
Data from the International Energy Agency also indicates that AI applications consume a significant amount of energy. For instance, a single ChatGPT query consumes 2.9 watt-hours of electricity, whereas a Google search consumes 0.3 watt-hours. This means AI queries consume approximately 10 times more energy than Google searches.
Data Centers Will Consume About 4% of Global Energy
According to the Goldman Sachs report, data centers worldwide currently consume about 2% of total energy, but this figure is expected to rise to 3% or 4% by 2030.
While there has been almost no growth in energy demand in the U.S. over the past decade, between 2022 and 2030, energy demand is expected to increase by around 2.4% due to data centers and other needs.
Goldman Sachs analysts predict that U.S. energy companies will need to invest approximately $50 billion in new production capacities just to support data centers. The situation is similar in Europe. Between 2023 and 2033, due to both the expansion of data centers and the acceleration of electrification, Europe’s energy demand is expected to increase by 40% to 50%.
Currently, about 15% of the world’s data centers are located in Europe. By 2030, the energy needs of these data centers are expected to be equivalent to the combined consumption of Portugal, Greece, and the Netherlands.
Generating Images with AI Consumes as Much Energy as Charging a Phone
The energy consumption of image-generating AI is also a topic of debate. Recently popular image-focused AIs consume a significant amount of energy for each image they generate.
According to information from the tech site The Verge, an average smartphone requires 0.012 kilowatt-hours of energy to charge. Generating a single image using generative AI consumes as much energy as charging a phone.
