With AI rapidly growing and becoming a part of our everyday lives, information about ethics, copyright theft and the devastating toll on the environment should be readily available to AI users and the administrators who recommend its use.

At Chico State, students are often given conflicting views on AI use in the classroom. Many professors are against using AI in class because of the fear of cheating. No one wants a doctor who got their degree from ChatGPT. But bigger concerns are now at hand: the future of our planet. 

A positive outlook on AI without acknowledging its costs is damaging because of its environmental impact. In particular, water and energy consumption are of huge concern. With scarce water resources, using more water than needed can disrupt the environment, and cause even more conflict amongst individuals. 

AI’s increasing water footprint has received less attention than deserved. It is crucial to address the water footprint to ensure AI’s growth does not worsen global water stresses. Pengfei Li, Jianyi Yang, Mohammad A. Islam and Shaolei Ren conducted the study “Making AI Less Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models” to address this issue. 

AI’s carbon footprint has been widely discussed, but its water footprint remains a major issue. Research by Li, Yang, Islam, and Ren estimates that training the GPT-3 model in Microsoft’s U.S. data centers alone could consume up to 700,000 liters of clean water. As AI becomes more used, projections indicate it could account for 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal by 2027—more than Denmark’s total annual water use.

Essentially, AI models need a lot of fresh water to cool data centers and electricity generation. According to this study, using limited blue water sources can “create social conflicts as freshwater resources suitable for human use are extremely limited and unevenly distributed.”

The environmental impacts may seem distant, but only when we squeeze the last ounce of water from this earth will we feel sorry. Making decisions to use AI only when in absolute need, instead of for pleasure or a supplement for creativity, is a choice. The choice to act in ways that benefit our campus, community and environment is ours. Encouraging the widespread use of AI for students is a choice, not made by our community, that could have long-lasting consequences on the environment. 

Although some professors have completely banned AI use in the classroom, others have embraced AI and even encouraged it in the classroom to help with busy work, brainstorming, drafting emails, etc.

“I do recognize that AI use is not environmentally friendly … I think those things will be focused on and get better. I don’t think that AI is going anywhere. And I think the longer we ignore it, the more of a disservice we’re doing to our students,” said Professor Jolene Moore, a faculty member in communication studies who encourages the use of AI in her classes as a way to teach the appropriate and inappropriate ways to use AI.

As AI continues to grow and become more permanent, teaching students how to use AI to their advantage is very beneficial. However, they should also be taught that this great tool comes at a great cost.

On Feb. 14, all Chico State students and staff received an email from Dr. Monique Sendze, vice president for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, and Dr. Leslie Cornick, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. This email stated that students and staff will have access to ChatGPT Edu, which offers more security for users and can dive into more complex concepts. Not once was the conversation of environmental concern brought up. 

“None of us were consulted on this, which I find frustrating … transparency is so important … AI tools aren’t necessarily difficult to use – what’s hard is understanding the implications, the stakes, the costs … and that’s what I’d like to see us do,” Professor Laura Sparks, who bans AI use in her English classes, said in response to the email.  “We need to ask who benefits from these technologies and who is harmed.”

This is my first year at Chico State, but so far, only one out of 11 professors I have had transparently addressed the environmental concerns directly to the class or mentioned them in the syllabus. When directly asked, other professors have admitted they fear the environmental impacts, so it is not for lack of knowledge that this issue is not being addressed. 

The absence of environmental discourse around AI may stem from a lack of institutional pressure. Without policies or curriculum requirements prompting discussion on AI’s water and energy consumption, many professors may feel no obligation to raise the issue. This is also all very new, so not knowing how to navigate AI use and learn about its costs can be overwhelming.

Since AI use is inevitable at this point, it seems that many students and professors have accepted that fact, so they do not see the need to go the extra mile to mention the negative consequences other than academic dishonesty.

This raises some ethical questions. Should Chico State and other CSUs promote a tool that could both allow students to cheat and have negative environmental consequences? 

Chico State has a responsibility to speak on the benefits and drawbacks of AI, not just in terms of academic integrity, but also in sustainability. Educational information should be provided to both faculty and staff about the environmental impacts, to spread awareness. Addressing these concerns would allow students and faculty to make informed decisions about its use.

As AI is further integrated into our school system, students and staff should be made aware of the harm it could cause. The issue is not to remove AI from our lives completely; that would be impossible given its integration into everyday technology. AI is here to stay, for better or for worse. 

The topic of AI use in school primarily revolves around academic integrity, but the consequences of our actions are seldom discussed. Chico State should consider whether the promotion of AI aligns with its sustainability goals and climate commitment. Chico State is obligated to educate its students and staff on the ethical and environmental concerns surrounding AI, just as they do the academic integrity concerns. Academic integrity is of high concern, but the health of our planet is an even greater one.

Maya DeHoyos can be reached at [email protected]