Generative AI models like OpenAI, Gemini, and Claude became mainstream in the early 2020s, and since then the daily use of artificial intelligence has increased rapidly. In 2025 alone, AI emitted up to 79.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and over 200 billion gallons of water.
Despite its rise in recent generations, the concept of AI was invented all the way back in the 1940s, with the term “Artificial Intelligence” officially being coined in 1956. It was a concept that many investors touched on, but one by the name of Alan Turing formally published the question: “Can machines think?” Eventually, the project evolved and the scientists main goal was to program machines that could use language, process information, and solve problems like humans.
The initial prospect for AI was to create machines that increased efficiency and reduced error in research-based environments. Instead, it is currently used to generate images and videos of all kinds, and to answer questions that could have been answered through any normal search engine.
Not only does this negatively affect the world around us, but the brains within us as well. Using ChatGPT or Gauth AI to do every assignment, rather than merely researching questions, leaves students indolent and unprepared for potential education and responsibilities that are to come.
AI was not meant to be used several times a day, at least not by the general public, and the overuse has not gone without consequence. Training and generating responses from AI models consumes significant amounts of water, power, and the rapidly growing carbon density in the atmosphere.
The excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, just like the gas emissions from cars, result in air pollution, ocean acidification, and global warming, while the over-extraction of water results in damaged habitats and biodiversity.
While we are in the early stages of this degradation, it’s probable that AI will continue to grow in use at incredible rates for years to come. This possibility ensures environmental disturbance but also endangers human intelligence. Having an easily accessible tool that can generate any thought possible discourages human creativity and tangible learning experiences. AI is an extraordinary device when it comes to data collection and research, but the overreliance on it by the current generation is what puts everything at risk.
