Estimating the Increase in Emissions caused by AI-augmented Search
Summary
Study estimates AI-augmented search increases energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 60–70x compared to conventional search, based on model energy demand and updated data.
Key quotes
These estimates agree remarkably well with those of the BLOOM model (seventy-five times).
This report compares energy consumption and carbon emissions between traditional search queries and AI-augmented search, using updated data for conventional search efficiency and estimates for AI models like BLOOM and ChatGPT. It concludes that AI-augmented search queries consume significantly more energy and contribute disproportionately higher emissions.