Is there a connection between the LA wildfires and artificial intelligence?

The scale of the sheer devastation caused by the wildfires that continue to rampage throughout Los Angeles this week is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Even from more than 5000 miles away, the heartache of viewing the images of thousands of homes destroyed, animals running wild and children saying all they see is black, is harrowing. At the time of writing, there are five fires still burning. The largest fire, the Palisades, which broke out on Tuesday and has destroyed more than 5,000 structures is still only 6% contained. These fires, and the irreparable damage they continue to cause, are beyond catastrophic, but how did they start, and what does that have to do with AI?

A “perfect storm” of LA’s exceptionally dry period and the powerful offshore winds caused the fires to initially start on Tuesday. These powerful gusts are usually 60 to 80mph but can be as much as 100mph. October to February is LA’s “rainy season” but this time downtown LA has only received 0.4m of water since October. The weather conditions and the extremely dry vegetation, paired with the fact that California is experiencing a drought created ample conditions for the fires to ravage the city. The LA Fire Department (“LAFD”) have been unable to contain the fires, specifically the Palisades, as the water systems are not designed to fight fires as aggressive as the ones spreading throughout LA. Gavin Newsom, the California Governor, stated that fire season is now “year-round” indirectly alluding to climate change having a connection to this catastrophe. There is no respite for the residents of LA, as although some of the smaller fires have been contained, such as the one on the iconic Sunset Boulevard, and the wind is expected to ease, there is no forecast of rain. Subsequently, LA remains in a “Red Flag Fire Warning” state of emergency for the foreseeable future.

The LA wildfires are undoubtedly distressing, but how does that relate to AI? With the massive increase in people using AI, whether it’s via AI assistants built into social media apps, or your colleague who’s using Microsoft’s Copilot, AI feels inescapable. Although AI is indisputably going to change the world as we know it, it’s worth noting that it comes at a cost. The more people who begin to utilise AI in their everyday lives, the more energy is being consumed. This begs the question, is the use of AI sustainable?

ChatGPT is the most recognisable generative AI. Since it’s launch in late 2022, it has rapidly grown in popularity, being used for everything from punchlines to essay plans to drafting emails. It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t used the platform, or at very least hasn’t heard of it. Since it’s entrance to the mainstream, ChatGPT and similar AI platforms have become a crutch for many people and are rapidly replacing the likes of Google to answer questions.

There is a plethora of issues with the increased reliance on AI, the most concerning arguably being the amount of energy it requires. Goldman Sachs reported in early 2024 that a ChatGPT search uses. on average, 10 times as much energy as a Google search. Using AI doesn’t just use an increased amount of energy though, studies found that to undertake simple tasks like drafting a 100-word email, ChatGPT uses more than 500ml of water. This is the equivalent of pouring a standard-size water bottle down the drain, per simple task. The same task uses around 0.14 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is the equivalent of powering 14 LED light bulbs for an hour. Training even just one AI model can emit more than 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is nearly five times the lifetime emissions of the average car, or 3000 round trips between New York and San Francisco. We are only at the beginning of the AI movement, as it increases so too will the use of energy and water. It’s easy to see how quickly this could snowball into a monumental amount of increased energy and water usage.

Of course, ChatGPT and other forms of AI cannot be directly blamed for the LA wildfires. The extremely powerful winds, the heat and the drought Southern California has been suffering are the direct causes. That being said, the exorbitant amount of energy and water AI requires, along with the carbon dioxide it produces, is likely to be an indirect cause due to its negative impact on climate change.