The nature of digital technology makes it difficult to easily see the costs. Usage isn't listed as a line item on your electric or water bill. There's no running tally in the tools themselves. But there are real, substantial costs to using this technology. PBS NewsHour did a great segment on what those costs are, which we linked below.

While there currently aren't any laws that require companies to disclose their water usage, there is a growing movement amongst activists and environmentalists to better understand the level of extraction. We've curated a list of articles to provide a strong foundation for understanding the impact of Generative AI on groundwater.

Carbon emissions is the most studied area of Generative AI environmental impact. It is clear that the impact is massive, unsustainable, and growing rapidly. But there is an abiding assumption that there is a technical solution for any problem with the tech. The Washington Post digs into that assumption in the link below.