Artificial intelligence is dangerous

AI is draining the planet
and (ultimately) ruining your brand.

Every statistic on this page is sourced from published research, government reports, and verified news coverage. Scroll and read about AI's harm on our planet.

Scroll

0

Projected AI data center electricity use by 2030

= more than Japan's entire national electricity demand1

0

Added CO2 emissions from data centers by 2030

= driven largely by AI's growing power demand5

0

Water consumed by US data centers per year

= annual water use of 160,000 American households3

0

Consumers who distrust AI-generated images and video

= nearly 1 in every 2 people you show AI content to4

01 — Environmental cost

Every AI prompt has it's own carbon footprint.

Whenever you're asking ChatGPT to write a blog post or come up with a catchy LinkedIn post (it won't, because they all sound the same), there's more often than not a power plant burning fuel, an electricity grid straining under load, and actual water disappearing from rivers. There's no way around this, as it's happening right now, to feed machines that answer questions a normal human could think of, write, and publish.

Electricity demand growth by 2030
0TWh

Up from 415 TWh in 2024

This is the grid that AI runs on, straining to keep up with demand that exceeds Japan's entire national electricity use by 2030.1

Source: Carbon Brief / IEA (2025)

Footage: 정규송 Nui MALAMA from PEXELS

US water use growth by 2028
0B gal

Up from 17.4B gal in 2023

Freshwater that's being pulled from aquifers and rivers to cool servers is projected to triple in five years.6

Source: MOST Policy Initiative (2026)

Footage: Philipp Kappler from PEXELS

Per single query

What powers one AI answer vs. one search

Google Search0.3 Wh
ChatGPT Query2.9 Wh

A single ChatGPT query draws nearly 10x more electricity than a Google search, and data center power demand overall is projected to grow 160% by 2030 as AI use scales up.5

Source: Goldman Sachs Research, citing International Energy Agency (2024)

Footage: 정규송 Nui MALAMA from PEXELS

Per 100-word email

Where the emissions end up

Standard water bottle500 ml
AI-written email519 ml

Every extra ton of CO2 from AI's power draw feeds the same warming trend driving longer, more intense wildfire seasons.7

Source: UC Riverside study, via EESI (2025)

Footage: 'K' from PEXELS

Added CO2 emissions by 2030
0M tons

From data center natural gas reliance alone

Data center emissions are projected to more than double between 2022 and 2030, driven largely by AI's power demand.5

Source: Goldman Sachs Research, citing IEA (2024)

Footage: 정규송 Nui MALAMA from PEXELS

02 — Collapsing consumer trust

Your brand uses AI content? Congratulations, you are losing customers.

Audiences can increasingly tell when content is AI-generated, and the reactions are negative. Disclosure of AI involvement measurably erodes perceived authenticity and brand credibility.10

Consumer reactions to AI-generated brand content

% of respondents

Source: Cognizant Consumer Survey (2024)

Why people still prefer actual humans over AI

% agreeing

Source: Udacity workforce survey, via CIO.com (2026)

"AI can't create the new products and services customers will want in the future" — cited by 62% of surveyed executives and managers as a reason to keep humans in the loop.11

03 — Reversal in the workforce?

Companies are rehiring people they replaced.

The rush to replace people with AI is colliding with reality. Quality drops, customers revolt, and companies are quietly walking it back.

Klarna

Replaced roughly 700 customer service employees with AI. Service quality declined, customers revolted, and the company had to rehire humans.10

29% and rising

Share of companies that made AI-related layoffs and have already rehired staff back, according to Forbes reporting on 2026 workforce data.11

Only 9%

of executives, managers and workers surveyed said they'd want to replace their entire workforce with AI tools.11

04 — Take action

Sign petitions against AI.

I've listed a few petitions and websites below that are opposing the use of AI. Read them, and sign if they align with your view.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these campaigns, and I do not receive any compensation for promoting them. I simply believe that the environmental and social costs of AI are too high to ignore.

Sources

  1. International Energy Agency, "Energy and AI," 2025, via Carbon Brief — global data center electricity demand projected to reach 945 TWh by 2030.
  2. MOST Policy Initiative, "Data Center Water Use," 2026 — US data center water use figures.
  3. MOST Policy Initiative, "Data Center Water Use," 2026 — annual US water use by data centers.
  4. Cognizant Consumer Survey, 2024 — consumer distrust of AI-generated content.
  5. Goldman Sachs Research, "AI is poised to drive 160% increase in data center power demand," 2024, citing International Energy Agency — per-query electricity comparison, power demand growth, and projected CO2 emissions increase from data centers by 2030.
  6. MOST Policy Initiative, "Data Center Water Use," 2026 — projected water use growth by 2028.
  7. EESI, "Data Centers and Water Consumption," 2025, citing UC Riverside research — per-email water footprint context.
  8. American Impact Review, "Consumer Trust in AI-Generated Marketing Content," 2026.
  9. CIO.com / Udacity workforce survey, "Push to replace workers with AI faces backlash," 2026.
  10. HR Executive, "The AI layoff trap: Why half will be quietly rehired," 2025 — Klarna case.
  11. Forbes, "Companies Fired Workers For AI. Now They Want Them Back," May 2026.

Start a project

Marketing that doesn't harm our planet or your brands reputation. Tell me about your business, goals, key dates, and whether you see this as a one-off project, an ongoing partnership, or a bit of both.