UN report: Skipping chatbot pleasantries could save energy for 760,000 people
Politeness costs the planet: AI's energy, water, and e-waste footprint exposed.
A United Nations University report on Wednesday laid bare the staggering environmental cost of artificial intelligence, from energy and water consumption to land use and electronic waste. The study, by the Institute for Water, Environment and Health, found that skipping pleasantries like 'please' and 'thank you' when interacting with AI chatbots could save enough energy to power 760,000 residents in sub-Saharan Africa for a year. Data centers consumed an estimated 448 TWh of electricity last year—rivaling France's entire energy use—requiring 4.5 trillion liters of water and 6,900 sq km of land.
The report projects AI's electricity demand will hit 945 TWh by 2030, nearly 3% of global electricity, while e-waste could reach 2.5 million tonnes annually—the equivalent of 250 Eiffel Towers discarded each year. As AI usage skyrockets, the UN urges sustainable practices, including optimizing prompts, reducing unnecessary queries, and improving hardware efficiency. The findings underscore a hidden but growing environmental crisis behind the AI boom, calling for both individual and systemic changes.
- Skipping 'please' and 'thank you' in chatbot prompts could save energy for 760,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa annually.
- AI data centers used 448 TWh of electricity in 2025, equal to France's total consumption, and that could double to 945 TWh by 2030.
- AI infrastructure could generate 2.5 million tonnes of e-waste yearly by 2030—comparable to discarding 250 Eiffel Towers.
Why It Matters
AI's rapid growth carries a hidden environmental cost that demands urgent action from users and industry alike.