Generating even a short video using artificial intelligence requires significant energy resources. According to a study by Hugging Face, creating five seconds of video is equivalent to the electricity consumption of a microwave oven operating for more than an hour. This was reported by Futurism.
Scientists note that the increase in energy consumption is not proportional to the length of the video. For example, six seconds require four times more electricity than three seconds. For comparison, generating a single 1,024 × 1,024 pixel image requires energy equivalent to only a few seconds of kitchen appliance operation.
The problem has a broader context. According to research estimates, modern artificial intelligence systems already consume about 20% of the electricity of all data centres worldwide. Large technology companies are actively investing in the development of generative AI, but the pace of capacity expansion is not always consistent with climate goals.
In 2024, Google reported a 13% increase in carbon emissions for the year, partly due to the use of new models. Their Veo 3 AI system allowed users to create over 40 million videos in just seven weeks. The exact impact on the environment remains unknown.
In addition to electricity, other resources are also consumed to operate data centres. A single text query to a chatbot can require up to 100 millilitres of water to cool the servers. Image generation is even more expensive, costing between two and five litres, which is equivalent to hundreds of cups of coffee.
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