AI video is on one other level
Once we tested the energy demands of varied models, we found the energy required to supply even a low-quality, five-second video to be pretty shocking: It was 42,000 times greater than the quantity needed for a chatbot answer a matter a couple of recipe, and enough to power a microwave for over an hour. If there’s one form of AI whose energy appetite should worry you, it’s this one.
Soon after we published, Google debuted the newest iteration of its Veo model. People quickly created compilations of essentially the most impressive clips (this one being essentially the most shocking to me). Something we indicate within the story is that Google (in addition to OpenAI, which has its own video generator, Sora) denied our request for specific numbers on the energy their AI models use. Nonetheless, our reporting suggests it’s very likely that high-definition video models like Veo and Sora are much larger, and far more energy-demanding, than the models we tested.
I believe the important thing as to whether using AI video will produce indefensible clouds of emissions within the near future will likely be the way it’s used, and the way it’s priced. The instance I linked shows a bunch of TikTok-style content, and I predict that if creating AI video is affordable enough, social video sites will likely be inundated with the sort of content.
There are more necessary questions than your personal individual footprint
We expected that lots of readers would understandably take into consideration this story by way of their very own individual footprint, wondering whether their AI usage is contributing to the climate crisis. Don’t panic: It’s likely that asking a chatbot for help with a travel plan doesn’t meaningfully increase your carbon footprint. Video generation might. But after reporting on this for months, I believe there are more necessary questions.
