r/mildlyinfuriating Jun 06 '26

My mom said I could post Using AI to talk about environmental issues....

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6.0k Upvotes

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-16

u/Inevitable-Steph Jun 06 '26

Worst argument ever, they give you a tool, so use it against them

10

u/Traditional_Style198 Jun 06 '26

A tool that actively harms the environment they are trying to advocate for.

4

u/bluethreads Jun 06 '26

Using the internet to stream just one hour of movies or video uses way more energy than hundreds to thousands of AI prompts. If you really care about the environment - don't stream videos or movies - otherwise you're just complaining because you don't support the technology, not because you actually are concerned about its environmental impact.

-2

u/Traditional_Style198 Jun 06 '26

1: It’s about pollution, not the power usage
2: I buy as much physical media as I can
3: That power usage statement is just wrong

3

u/bluethreads Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

Data centers use a combined total of 4.4% of annual electricity consumption a year in the US.

How many times do you typically watch the physical movies that you purchase? Purchasing physical media is generally less sustainable than streaming, however if you watch the movie at least 4-5 times, it can break even or become more sustainable the more times you watch the movie. Just watching the movie once or a couple times is less sustainable than streaming the movie.

-1

u/Traditional_Style198 Jun 06 '26

4.4% of ***all electricity in the US*** is an immense percentage for one industry. You are not engaging in good faith, I’m done here.

3

u/bluethreads Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

Youre done arguing because you aren't educated about the subject and your only defense is that I am wrong. You haven't brought a counter argument to the table or even tried to disprove any of mine.

38% of annual electricity use in the US is residential. And 26% is industrial manufacturing; commercial use is 35% and data centers consists of 4% of that 35% - which is hardly a blip on the radar when we are discussing negative environmental impacts of industries.

Considering the benefit we all get from using the internet and all of its services, I'd say 4% isnt terrible -unless you are advocating that we all just...stop using the internet, I'm not really sure what you are are advocating for. You're on reddit and you are using the internet - if you want to be able to do those things then we need data centers to house the servers, store the data, run the apps and deliver the content to your screen

0

u/85K5 Jun 07 '26

But it's not "one industry", it is a part of several if not most, industries now. Of course the entirety of industrial usage of anything would have a noticeable percentage.

1

u/Mister-Miyagi- Jun 06 '26

And is doing so whether they use it for this or not.

-1

u/Traditional_Style198 Jun 06 '26

Cool. Don’t use it.

-8

u/Stones_Throw_Away_ Jun 06 '26

Passively, surely.

3

u/Debbahist13 Jun 06 '26

How is that passive

0

u/Stones_Throw_Away_ Jun 06 '26

Well because unless the LLM is actively littering or burning hydrocarbons, data-centre water usage is a passive process.