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From reader France Tremblay

[9/27/25, 04:32:49] ~France Tremblay: — The trend of “Starter Packs” generated by artificial intelligence (AI), where users represent themselves as personalized figurines, is gaining popularity on social media. However, this practice has a significant environmental impact. — BFM.

——— Ecological impact of AI-generated images
• Electricity consumption: Generating a single high-quality image using AI consumes approximately 1.6 watt-hours, equivalent to half the time it takes to charge a smartphone. On a large scale, this represents significant energy consumption.
• Water use: Each generated image requires between 2 and 5 liters of water for cooling data centers, often potable, which raises concerns in a context of growing water shortages.
• CO₂ emissions: Producing 1,000 images with AI is equivalent to driving approximately 6.5 kilometers in a gasoline-powered car, thus contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

——— Long-term consequences

The International Energy Agency predicts that data center electricity consumption could double by 2026, exacerbating the environmental challenges associated with AI.

— In summary, while entertaining, AI-generated images come at a significant environmental cost in terms of energy consumption, water consumption, and CO₂ emissions.— 20 mins

—= The Alliance Strikes Back 17 =—
[9/27/25, 04:34:53] ~France Tremblay: Thanks, Lucas, that's what my two computer engineer sons tell me too. My eldest son specializes in AI and is very concerned about the ecological impact of this new avenue... but also about the whole ethical aspect. Although he's not a reader of UB, his opinion on all this strangely resembles that of our Invisible Friends