Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasing part of everyday life over the past decade, with applications ranging from personalising social media feeds and spotting friends in photos to accelerating medical breakthroughs. However, the rise of generative AI chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, has prompted concerns regarding the technology's environmental impact, ethical implications, and data use.
AI enables computers to process large datasets, identify patterns, and follow detailed instructions. While computers cannot think or empathise, scientists have developed systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as recommending products to online shoppers or powering voice-controlled virtual assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa.
Generative AI creates new content that can appear human-made by learning from vast quantities of existing data. Popular tools like ChatGPT, DeepSeek's chatbot, Google's Gemini, and Meta AI can produce text, images, code, and more. Apps such as Midjourney and Veo 3 are dedicated to creating images or video from text prompts, and generative AI can also be used to make high-quality music.
Despite its potential, some experts are worried about the rapid growth of AI. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested that AI could affect nearly 40% of jobs and worsen global financial inequality. Concerns also include AI's potential to reproduce biased information, as public data used for training can reflect existing societal biases like sexism or racism. Generative AI systems are also known to "hallucinate" and assert falsehoods as fact.
The environmental impact of AI is also a growing concern. While the exact energy consumption is unclear, some researchers estimate the industry could soon consume as much energy as the Netherlands. Creating powerful computer chips for AI programmes requires significant power and water, and the demand for generative AI services has led to an increase in data centres, which use substantial energy and water for cooling.
Some governments have introduced regulations for AI. The EU's Artificial Intelligence Act controls high-risk systems and bans some AI uses. China requires generative AI developers to safeguard citizen data and promote transparency, while also adhering to censorship laws. The UK has amended existing laws to address specific AI dangers, such as banning tools for creating deepfake nude imagery, and has established an independent AI Security Institute to identify risks.