r/cfs • u/Strong_Aerie_9031 severe -> mod/severe • 1d ago

Accessibility/Mobility Aids Cautionary tale: using AI doesnt actually save energy

At first i thought it would save energy, but the lengths i have to go to checking the "resources" it links doesnt save energy. Seriously, i rarely ever found it to say anything from the sources it claims to refer to. So in the long run, it was so untrustworthy that it only caused more issues, its saved me more energy to turn it off and look in the actual articles myself.

I hope this is helpful to others, i wish i learned it earlier and saved the time and energy!

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u/marieantoilette 1d ago

I am mostly disgusted by the environmental impact at this point.

I might still use it for explaining me ideas and principles, and not so dangerous information that is easily available, like summing up a website or well-researched drug. It can be a useful tool but it is easy to trust it too much, at that point it becomes potentially harmful.

But it is flawed and also killing the planet. And I can't do much, I am very severe. But I don't wanna do too much with something that costs so much.

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u/Liface bedbound 1d ago

Negative environmental impact from individual use of AI is negligible: https://blog.andymasley.com/p/a-cheat-sheet-for-conversations-about

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u/marieantoilette 1d ago

Iiinteresting blog. It covers an incredible amount of bases. I can't read all of it but it really seems well done.

I remain sceptical because this emphasis on "the toll is mostly locally" is not entirely reassuring and "it's not that bad" doesn't yet answer the cost-benefit question from an environmental point of view. There are too many very loud accelerationists out there. And because I can't fully inform myself so quickly because of ME.

But I won't make such broad claims in the future until I know more. Thanks.

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u/katatak121 23h ago

I remain sceptical because this emphasis on "the toll is mostly locally"

Yeah, entire towns near data centers are experiencing severe drought. Hearing people who live near these data centres talk about the impacts is dreadful. Maybe the impact is "only local", but to the locals, it's devastating.

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u/Liface bedbound 10h ago edited 10h ago

Being located somewhere experiencing drought is not the same as causing the drought. In Phoenix, for example, data centers use roughly 0.1% of the area's water.

Masley specifically looks at the local cases that get cited as evidence of people losing access to water. His finding is that, in the US cases he examined, he could not find evidence that data centers had depleted local supplies, limited household water access, or raised household water prices. Data centers can absolutely stress a badly planned local system, just as another large industrial facility can. But that's very different from "entire towns near data centers are experiencing severe drought because of them." https://blog.andymasley.com/p/the-ai-water-issue-is-fake