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Technology
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Jun 19, 2025
AI chatbots emit more carbon with reasoning
AI chatbots that give detailed, step-by-step answers can create up to 50 times more carbon emissions than those giving quick, simple replies.
Researchers tested 14 popular language models with 1,000 questions from subjects like philosophy and math, finding that more complex topics led to much higher emissions.
TL;DR
Smarter answers can cost the planet more
Reasoning-heavy models generated way more "thinking" tokens—basically the extra steps the AI takes—which means more energy use.
For example, the most accurate model, Cogito, got close to 85% accuracy but used about three times as much energy as simpler models.
The study highlights a clear trade-off: smarter answers can cost the planet more, so making AI both smart and eco-friendly is an ongoing challenge.