{"id":23053,"date":"2025-10-13T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/?p=23053"},"modified":"2025-10-13T12:40:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T10:40:17","slug":"sei-frech-zur-ki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2025\/10\/13\/sei-frech-zur-ki\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Courtesy With Consequences \u2013 The Ecological Footprint of AI Chats"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23053 social_share_privacy clearfix 1.6.4 locale-en_US sprite-en_US\"><\/div><div class=\"twoclick-js\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\njQuery(document).ready(function($){if($('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23053')){$('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_23053').socialSharePrivacy({\"txt_help\":\"Wenn Sie diese Felder durch einen Klick aktivieren, werden Informationen an Facebook, Twitter, Flattr, Xing, t3n, LinkedIn, Pinterest oder Google eventuell ins Ausland \\u00fcbertragen und unter Umst\\u00e4nden auch dort gespeichert. N\\u00e4heres erfahren Sie durch einen Klick auf das <em>i<\\\/em>.\",\"settings_perma\":\"Dauerhaft aktivieren und Daten\\u00fcber-tragung zustimmen:\",\"info_link\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.heise.de\\\/ct\\\/artikel\\\/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschutz-1333879.html\",\"uri\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\\\/itc\\\/en\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/13\\\/sei-frech-zur-ki\\\/\",\"post_id\":23053,\"post_title_referrer_track\":\"Digital+Courtesy+With+Consequences+%E2%80%93+The+Ecological+Footprint+of+AI+Chats\",\"display_infobox\":\"on\"});}});\n\/* ]]> *\/<\/script><\/div><p><div id=\"attachment_23102\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23102\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-23102\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Digital illustration: Two hands made of blue light points and lines hold a small plant with two leaves against a dark background.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/files\/2025\/10\/3442501-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-23102\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/free-vector\/saving-nature-with-technology-concept_6840280.htm#fromView=search&amp;page=2&amp;position=16&amp;uuid=12bcf460-ffea-4d06-a931-88eb41e5e34e&amp;query=AI+climate\">Freepik<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of everyday life for many university members. Language models such as ChatGPT provide support in writing scientific texts, programming, research, and translations. RWTH Aachen University also has a powerful AI system at its disposal in the form of <a href=\"https:\/\/genai.rwth-aachen.de\/app\">RWTHgpt<\/a>, which can be used in a variety of ways. While the technical possibilities are constantly growing, another question is increasingly coming into focus: How sustainable is our use of AI?<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">The Price of Words<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The use of large language models involves considerable energy consumption. Every single text prompt has to be processed by huge data centers, which require large amounts of electricity and also rely on complex cooling systems. The amount of water required for this is also considerable.<\/p>\n<p>One aspect that is often overlooked is that even seemingly harmless pleasantries such as \u201cThank you very much!\u201d or \u201cThat was very helpful\u201d trigger a complete computing process of the model, with the corresponding consumption of resources. The associated power consumption leads to measurable CO\u2082 emissions, which have a negative impact on the carbon footprint. We also took a closer look at a similar connection between digital communication and CO\u2082 emissions in an <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2023\/12\/18\/co2-auswirkungen\/\">article<\/a> on email use. The more polite phrases are directed at AI, the higher the cumulative energy consumption. Politeness, as well-intentioned as it is, comes at a price in this context. Therefore, we advise:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be cheeky to AI!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">Efficiency Through Precision<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>AI systems have no consciousness. They do not respond to tone of voice, emotions, or interpersonal codes. A friendly approach does not lead to better results\u2014but it does lead to additional energy expenditure. When dealing with language models, it is advisable to focus on the essentials: <strong>clear, direct, functional<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of formulating requests with superfluous polite phrases, a precise question is usually sufficient. This not only shortens the response time but also minimizes the ecological footprint. By avoiding unnecessary requests, CO\u2082 can be effectively saved, energy consumption reduced, and a contribution made to sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">Use RWTHgpt Consciously<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/genai.rwth-aachen.de\/app\">RWTHgpt<\/a> offers a data protection-compliant and university-specific solution that makes everyday life easier for many students and employees. Due to its versatile applications, it is worth thinking about your own communication style. Short, targeted entries reduce the load on the infrastructure and demonstrate an awareness of the environmental impact of digital systems.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #00549f;\">Saving Resources Starts with Your Input<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Language models are tools, not conversation partners. If you&#8217;re aware of this fact, you can make a small contribution to the responsible use of digital technologies with every precise input. Objectively formulated queries promote the efficient use of the systems and help to keep their ecological footprint as small as possible. Using AI responsibly means thinking efficiently and acting sustainably.<\/p>\n<p>You can read more about sustainability in our <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/2025\/03\/12\/digital-cleanup-day-2025\/\">article<\/a> on Digital Clean Up Day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Responsible for the content of this article are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/cms\/it-center\/it-center\/profil\/team\/~epvp\/mitarbeiter-campus-\/?gguid=PER-DTJF9WU&amp;allou=1&amp;lidx=1\">Hania Eid<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.itc.rwth-aachen.de\/cms\/it-center\/it-center\/profil\/team\/~epvp\/mitarbeiter-campus-\/?gguid=PER-FSX9U9J&amp;allou=1&amp;lidx=1\">Malak Mostafa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The following source served as the basis for this article:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2023\/12\/05\/1084417\/ais-carbon-footprint-is-bigger-than-you-think\/\">MIT Technology Review<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3308,"featured_media":23101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[960,108,620,1217],"class_list":["post-23053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-themen","tag-ai","tag-digital","tag-ki","tag-rwthgpt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23053"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23103,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23053\/revisions\/23103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.rwth-aachen.de\/itc\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}