These days, the phrase “just ask AI” is becoming increasingly common. It seems to make no difference to our teachers how much we rely on generative AI (“Gen-AI”). It’s fast and easy. But to keep up with this speed, the servers that power Gen-AI require enormous amounts of water to prevent them from overheating. This places a heavy burden on our natural resources and has major consequences for the climate. Global temperatures have been rising for some time, and now AI is contributing to this.
Gen-AI systems are trained using the entire internet: any source can be consulted to gather information. However, these systems cannot determine which of these sources are reliable. How can we trust AI’s answers? How does this impact the future? By using Gen-AI, we’re not being lazy; we’re being efficient.
Or are we?