Where do I start? The staff writer from this website (January 12th, 2026) put it best, “Individual AI usage might seem insignificant, but multiplied across billions of users globally, the aggregate impact is enormous.” It explores how our individual control can help AI “deploying thoughtfully, efficiently, and sustainably.” When websites change, we can adapt. From my experience with AI-related sources, I do not prefer their suggestion (especially without my permission). Many of this AI is automatically added and we need to make sure if we want it or not. It is our choice and when we chose “no” in our settings, this does not mean we can’t use it ever. We would just have more control over if/when we do. Similar to our privacy settings and other custom control we have with our phones, email, and search engines.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been helping awareness since 1972. UNEP is a “global authority on the environment” which has been able to identify “planetary crisis” to urge transformation change. This article sums up how data centers are connected to AI. For example, “a request made through ChatGPT, an AI-based virtual assistant, consumes 10 times the electricity of Google Search, reported by the International Energy Agency. More on Google below. This is just a taste of it. There are more resources below showing of what this is doing.
What I feel is frightening is how we are all becoming exposed. Yes, we may still need to use Google and National Grid however we can spend a few minutes looking at where this comes from. I was reading an email this morning and felt vulnerable when a little tab opened up above giving a “summary” of what I just read (of only five small paragraphs!). Yikes, it wasn’t even accurate. Thank you Amanda Smith for explaining how to easily stop this in our Google General Settings. Also, don’t forget to on your phone!
Fran Smith (January 20th, 2026) explores how data centers impact marginalized communities.
Conimby (September 12th, 2025) explains pros/cons of data centers.
University of Michigan Terry Nguyen and Ben Green have researched (July 2025) the data about the need for “fairer cost distribution” with community resources.
Ajit Niranjan from The Guardian (January 3rd, 2026) points out “figures are negligible compared to activities such as flying, eating meat, or driving a car” however I need to know it is my choice. Beware that much AI has now been automatically added to many services.
Here is an informative article (September 12th, 2025) from Business Insider.
Please reach out with any questions,
