AI, especially generative AI, has significant environmental costs including electricity use, water consumption, and CO2 emissions. Five practical tips for reducing AI's environmental impact are presented: use smaller models (which can cut emissions 30x), prefer task-specific models over general-purpose ones, optimize data center usage through smarter prompting and questioning uptime requirements, recognize greenwashing tactics used by tech companies, and measure emissions accurately using location-based reporting and carbon-aware computing. A key 'tip zero' is to simply not use AI when simpler solutions suffice.
Table of contents
Words matter #heading-1It's ok not to use AI #heading-2Five tips to make greener choices #heading-3Summing up #heading-4445 Impressions