Google says a typical AI text prompt only uses 5 drops of water — experts say that’s misleading
1 min read
Summary
Google’s AI assistant, Gemini, has drawn attention for its relatively low environmental impact, using approximately five drops of water and as much electricity as US television for less than nine seconds to generate text prompts.
According to the company’s own study, a median Gemini text prompt uses around 0.26 millilitres of water and produces around 0.03g of carbon dioxide.
However, the study has been called into question for allegedly omitting key data relating to indirect water use in data centres.
It is estimated that up to 50% of water consumed by data centres is a result of their electricity use, something not taken into account in Google’s study.
Furthermore, Google’s study only accounts for market-based carbon emissions and not the higher location-based measure, which takes into account the emissions produced as a result of the local energy grid.
While Google’s efficiency gains have reduced environmental impact, the company’s overall carbon footprint continues to grow, increasing by 11% in 2023 and 51% since 2019.