Transforming a selfie with ChatGTP into a Studio Ghibli-style. Work of art has become the latest viral trend on social networks, especially on Instagram.
With artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. Millions of people have generated images that seem to be taken from films. Such as My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away. But behind this wonder there is a hidden cost that few consider: the environmental impact.
In just five days, the massive creation of these images consumed more than 216 million liters of water, as has been known.
This consumption is equivalent to the monthly supply of a small town.
How is this possible?
The key lies in the data centers that process these images. Gigantic facilities that require enormous amounts of energy and water to operate.
According to recent studies, each Ghibli–style image can consume up to 3.45 liters of water just to cool the servers. This occurs because much of the water used evaporates during the process. While the rest is recirculated to cool again.
In addition to water, energy consumption is also alarming. Generating a thousand images with Artificial Intelligence requires about 2.9 kWh. Which is equivalent to charging a smartphone 132 times.
This high consumption is also a problem for carbon emissions. For example, advanced models such as Stable Diffusion XL generate up to 1,594 grams of carbon dioxide for every thousand images created.
To give you an idea, data centers currently represent between one percent and 1.5 percent of total electricity consumption worldwide. In regions such as Arizona or Utah. Where many technology companies operate, these centers also rely on water to cool themselves.
Translated by Radio Angulo
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