Ditch the niceties in AI prompts to save energy use, say researchers
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- UNU‑INWEH report estimates that removing polite filler words from AI prompts could cut ChatGPT’s energy consumption by up to 25%, saving 87‑98 GWh per year — enough electricity for up to 760,000 sub‑Saharan African households.
- ChatGPT processes roughly 2.5 billion queries daily, while Google’s AI‑enhanced services handle about 16 billion, together accounting for AI’s current ~20 % share of data‑centre electricity use.
- AI data centres are projected to double their electricity share to ~40 % within a few years, with AI alone expected to consume ~378 TWh annually by 2030, representing ~3 % of global electricity demand.
- Miriam Aczel warns that AI’s water demand could reach 9.3 trillion litres per year by 2030, enough to meet the minimum domestic water needs of all 1.3 billion people in sub‑Saharan Africa.
- Kaveh Madani urges users to keep prompts concise, avoid unnecessary conversation loops, and refrain from forming relationships with AI to lower token counts and associated energy use.
Why it matters: AI users and data‑centre operators gain measurable energy savings – up to 25 % per query – while electricity grids and water supplies avoid added strain as AI’s share of global power climbs toward 40 % by 2030.
Ask SkimNews
