Default Page Title


Google without AI and save energy and water

TRY IT NOW







INTRO


This experiment allows users to choose whether to search Google with or without auto-generated AI summaries and highlights the water and energy impact of those searches.


BACKGROUND


AI has transformed how we design and think about digital products and services and every product seems to want to utilise it. There is however an environmental impact to these decisions, as training and using AI consumes a lot of energy and water.

AI obviously has huge benefits but there has been some criticism around the decision to automatically generate AI summaries of user’s Google searches by default, with some pointing out the inaccuracy and even danger of some of these summarised answers.¹ Whilst some have raised concerns about them being manipulated by scammers.²

Others have highlighted the environmental cost, which could be 10x the energy use of a Google search without AI summaries.³ Which if you consider Google processes 5.9 million searches per minute⁴ - the scale of that impact could be vast.

This experiment aims to highlight a few things:


1. WATER USAGE IS OVERLOOKED


Water is a critical finite resource and data centres use a lot of it, some estimates say a data centre can use up to 5 million gallons of drinking water per day.⁵  Dry air reduces the risk of corrosion and electrical issues in data centres, meaning dry and arid regions are popular locations to build new data centres, but these areas also have more water scarcity and therefore a higher marginal cost in terms of water consumption.⁶  Some farmers in these regions have protested against data centres using water they say they need for crops.⁷ 


2. GIVE USERS A CHOICE


I think allowing users to choose whether or not to have AI summaries in their searches is a more interesting design approach. In this experiment a user can easily toggle the AI summaries off or on before they search, giving them the opportunity to decide whether they want to use AI or not on a search by search basis. This is functionality I could also envisage Google implementing at some point.




3. AWARENESS


This experiment is not about AI being a negative force,  it’s a way of thinking about how to design the internet more sustainably and to raise awareness of its environmental impact. It’s worth noting however that the numbers around energy and water usage are not accurate and can’t be due to the lack of industry transparency.

But by informing users, the hope is to encourage greater awareness of this issue and to push for more industry transparency around these figures, leading to more accurate data and more informed and responsible design decisions around AI.


Google without AI 


Email me for high res images and video 
October 2024

¹ MIT Technology Review
² Bluesky
³ Jacobin
Semrush
The University of Tulsa
The Guardian
Albuquerque Journal