Well it’s true, training ChatGPT required about the same amount of energy that is used to produce 129 cars. (Training ChatGPT 3 used 1,287 megawatt-hours, producing a Toyata Camery uses 10 MWh). Querying ChatGPT uses as much energy as watching a 10 to 30 minute video (0.1 and 0.3 kilowatt-hours for both depending on the source).

And you’re right, the server centers that store this data use water (and air) to keep cool, that is true for everything on the internet. ChatGPT used 700,000 liters to train GPT 3, and processing 5 to 50 ChatGPT queries consumes about 500 milliliters. For comparison, Facebook's US data centers used 1.5 billion gallons of water in 2021 and Google’s data centers used approximately 15.79 billion gallons of water globally in 2021.

So it’s true, there are a lot of things we should stop doing if we don’t want to use energy or water. Like get off all social media platforms, stop using Google search and email, stop streaming video, stop looking at our phones all day, etc.

Personally, I would make the case that being able to have access to, and query, all of the knowledge in the world is one of the most beneficial things we could create for humanity. This knowledge base is not just beneficial for writers, but doctors, scientists, researchers, and anyone who previously had to rely on a search engine or complex calculations to find answers and advance human progress. For this reason I’d rather see the climate argument used against social media and cars and things that are more detrimental to humanity, than on advancing human knowledge which I see as one of the best uses for our power!