What's the environmental impact of AI?

A lot of people are talking about environmental issues with artificial intelligence (AI). Watch this video to find out more.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember, you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

AI needs water. A lot of water – equivalent to all the water used by some smaller countries. That's because as the tech industry has grown, so too have data centres – these huge buildings filled with hundreds of thousands of computers that require vast amounts of electricity, air and sometimes water to stay cool. Because of AI, Google, Microsoft and Meta have all reported higher energy and water consumption year over year.

Currently, there are no federal regulations for AI, so some scientists are worried about how that could impact our planet in the future. Here's Benjamin Lee from the University of Pennsylvania.

I think before generative AI came along in late 2022, there was hope among these data centre operators that they could go to net zero. I don't see how you can, under current infrastructure investment plans, you could possibly achieve those net zero goals.

With major infrastructure projects like Stargate, the Trump administration plans to build another 20 new data centres over the next four years. So until stronger regulations are in place, it's up to tech companies to figure out how to keep their energy and water consumption low, while keeping up with demand for AI innovation.
 

©NPR

Discussion

Average: 3.7 (11 votes)

Submitted by SoniaSakhi on Wed, 08/04/2026 - 10:50

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Hi

I think that AI is good for in any section of our life.. but in some aspect there is bad like the person thinks less, they use AI all the time for smaller things. And second There is rumor that AI used as a worker there's no need people.

Submitted by RitaFerreira on Sun, 22/03/2026 - 21:16

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From my point of view, AI is mostly good. But I'm concerned about how we'll manage the knowledge produced by it and its potential. I believe that it'll be great if we use AI as an extension of us. Imagine with me, if each of us had a robot or an AI tool to help with work, domestic tasks, or other formal responsibilities, we could do pleasurable things and we would have time to be human: to read, to go to the park and talk with our friends, to stay with our kids, etc. Another example: to learn a new language and make our life easier. It's my best friend for learning and practicing English :) But I'm not sure that this is the future. Probably, and because we know human beings and our history, AI will be used to improve business, work harder, and we'll have less time for ourselves and more stress and worries. It's really sad; unfortunately, I believe this is the most probable future. I do consultations, and frequently my patients share with me their concerns about this theme. The reality is now.

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Submitted by Guto on Sat, 07/03/2026 - 00:58

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Hi, 

That's my first lesson in Britsh Council. I'm old man, but I would like to learn English. So, let's try :-D

Submitted by S_choren on Fri, 16/01/2026 - 11:00

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Thanks for this lesson. I'm glad that I got 100%

Submitted by mindthegreg on Fri, 28/11/2025 - 13:18

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Hi fellas,

 

Why no worksheets recently?

 

Thanks

Hi mindthegreg,

It's purely a question of time and resources. We're a small team here and producing worksheets is quite a time-consuming process. At the moment we're focused on adding new content; we may go back in the future and add worksheets to the pages if time allows.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by moaz_shamekh on Tue, 25/11/2025 - 15:31

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I think AI will change our lives like internet, but I'm not sure if this change will be good or bad, because AI has a lot of pros and cons specially on our minds and our skills, you know sometimes you ask AI to make some work done for you when you feel laziness, but I hope we consider these bad impacts and be aware while using it.  

Submitted by NHUVU on Sat, 22/11/2025 - 00:19

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Yes, I think AI will change our lives, AI help people do same things and may become an assistant for us. Some time I use AI to check mistake of English Email also summary some documents.

all things have two side, Good or bad depend on how we use AI for life. But I think AI is mostly good for us.