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🎄Day 11: Energy cost of AI models

Energy cost of AI models

Training large AI models can consume significant energy, which has environmental and financial impacts.

Today’s AI insight

  • High-performance AI models require powerful hardware and long training times
  • Awareness of energy use encourages efficient model design and sustainable computing

Why this matters

  • Reducing unnecessary computations saves energy, cost, and carbon footprint
  • Choosing efficient architectures aligns AI research with responsible practices

A simple example

Training a large language model for weeks can consume energy comparable to several households’ yearly usage. Smaller, targeted models often perform just as well for specific tasks.

Try this today

Ask: “Can a smaller or more efficient model achieve similar results?”

Reflection

AI is powerful, but we must consider its environmental impact alongside scientific gains.

Back to AI Advent 2025 overview