Our clients have been working hard to get greener – recycling materials on site, swapping to EV fleets, sourcing locally and so much more. But there’s a blind spot most of us don’t talk about: the energy cost of AI.
Did you know that data centres powering AI already use more electricity than most countries. While there are some great companies like Deep Green Energy working hard to do data centres in a better way, there is a sustainability cost to AI that we need to think about.
The hidden price of staying competitive
AI is here to stay and yes, the advantage is hard to ignore. But the price tag is heavy. Here’s the awkward bit. Our clients spend pages of a bid telling procurers how sustainable they are, but the very documents making those claims may have been crafted by authors using one of the world’s hungriest technologies.
A smarter way forward
Maybe we should treat it like flying: sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it’s not. Complex analysis or fresh ideas to bounce around? The energy trade-off might be justified. But using it for routine admin or polishing a couple of sentences? That starts to look lazy.
The challenge isn’t about banning AI. It’s knowing when it genuinely adds value, using it smartly and showing procurers that we’re serious about sustainability in how we win the work, not just how we deliver it. So next time you open ChatGPT, ask is this really necessary?
