AI Images Consume Less Power Than Videos; But Energy Costs Remain High

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming digital content, but its growing energy demand is drawing attention to its environmental impact.

Reporters at MIT Technology Review calculated the electricity required to generate AI images and videos.

A high-quality AI-generated image can consume as much power as a microwave running for about five and a half seconds. The energy demand rises sharply when AI generates video content.

A short AI-generated video can require more than 700 times the power used to create a single high-quality image. As a result, generating just five seconds of AI video can consume as much electricity as running a microwave for more than an hour.

The figures highlight the substantial energy footprint behind AI-generated media. Every image and video created through artificial intelligence relies on computing infrastructure that requires significant electricity.

Much of this electricity still comes from conventional fossil-fuel sources. Coal and gas remain major contributors to the power supply used by data centres and other computing facilities. Their combustion releases emissions that contribute to global warming.

The comparison offers a simple way to understand the hidden energy cost of AI content. While a single image may require only a few seconds of microwave-level electricity, AI video generation demands considerably more power.

The analysis was based on information from the International Energy Agency and MIT Technology Review. It underlines how the rapid expansion of AI-generated images and videos could increase pressure on energy systems and the environment.

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