Modern life imposes on us a concrete awareness towards nature, the environment, and our impact on the planet.
It’s a very complex topic, often simplified by slogans that tend to be used without moving from words to actions. We identify certain elements, primarily plastic, as the enemy to combat, but then we don’t dedicate sufficient sensitivity to our habits. For example, if an SMS (remember those?) produces 0.8 grams of CO2e, where “e” stands for “carbon dioxide equivalent,” and we have certainly sent billions over time, the modern use of chats with visual and multimedia content has multiplied these emissions: there are no official statistics for WhatsApp or similar messaging apps, but considering that sending an email—technically comparable—has an impact of about 4 grams of CO2e on average, and with attachments, it can potentially reach up to 50 grams of CO2e.

Innovations in artificial intelligence further raise concerns about electricity consumption. According to a report, Microsoft’s emissions, one of the major players in this revolution, have increased by almost 30% to meet the demand for artificial intelligence. The same applies to other major companies in this sector (OpenAI, Google, Meta, etc.). However, it makes sense to look at things broadly and completely, especially focusing on true awareness. This doesn’t mean making arguments that take us backward, demonizing technology and innovation, or suggesting we should give up energy.

The issue isn’t electricity itself but how it’s produced. Insisting on, investing in, and obtaining concrete subsidies to transition to energy from renewable and clean sources is the solution, the true priority.

Reducing consumption should be a sought-after practice, but even more so, understanding which actions truly generate such reduction requires a view of the entire process: for instance, saying that electric cars are ecological without checking how the electricity that powers them is produced is a classic example of limited vision.

A better world won’t be one that saves itself by regressing but one that saves itself by advancing, increasingly using the achievements humanity has obtained, while also leaving behind a smaller negative footprint. All this will probably be possible precisely thanks to artificial intelligence, which, although generating high energy consumption, could be the key to finding better solutions. Therefore, the effort needed in terms of energy to power this evolution will be compensated by greater efficiency. Humanity’s achievements have always required more energy power and will need even more in the future. It’s up to us, but also legislators, inventors, and innovators, to find ways to have increasingly clean energy.