Artificial intelligence is exploding in popularity, and many people have concerns about the sustainability of its energy consumption. AI models need vast amounts of electricity: according to the International Energy Agency, a typical AI data centre can consume as much energy as 100,000 households each year. Energy use by US data-centre servers more than tripled between 2014 and 2023 — reaching 4.4% of the nation’s total electricity consumption. This figure is expected to at least double by 2028 1 .

However, AI might also hold the key to improving energy efficiency: offsetting some of the demand it creates. An article published by the World Economic Forum suggests that the use of AI tools across industries — in automating tasks or monitoring real-time energy use, for example — can reduce energy consumption by up to 60%.…