Estimates suggest that a single complex AI question can produce up to 50 times the CO₂ emissions of a typical online search. To put it in perspective, that’s similar to driving several miles in a car or running multiple household appliances for hours.

Figure 1. Everyday Activities Compared to AI.

A recent Pew Research Center survey shows that while many Americans recognize common ways they encounter artificial intelligence (AI) in daily life—such as customer service chatbots or product recommendations based on past purchases—only about three in ten U.S. adults correctly identified all six AI applications included in the survey, highlighting that public understanding is still evolving. Figure 1 shows Everyday Activities Compared to AI.

Understanding these common AI uses is an important first step toward broader engagement with debates over AI’s role and boundaries. Experts continue to raise moral, ethical, and legal questions about AI’s expanding capabilities, making responsible and ethical AI use an increasing focus of research.

The survey, conducted from December 12–18, 2022, of 11,004 U.S. adults, found that 27% of Americans interact with AI several times a day, while another 28% use it about once a day or several times a week. Meanwhile, 44% report they do not regularly interact with AI.

Public sentiment remains cautious: only 15% feel more excited than concerned about AI’s growing presence in daily life, compared with 38% who are more concerned than excited, and 46% who express a mix of concern and excitement—similar to responses in November 2021.

When asked about specific AI applications, 68% recognized AI in wearable fitness trackers, 65% in customer service chatbots, 64% in online shopping recommendations, 62% in facial-recognition security cameras, and 57% in customized music playlists. The most difficult item was email spam categorization, correctly identified by only 51% of respondents.

Overall, 30% of Americans demonstrated high awareness (all six correct), 38% medium awareness (three to five correct), and 31% low awareness (two or fewer correct), with an average of 3.7 correct answers out of six.

For instance, 53% of Americans with a postgraduate degree correctly identified all six AI use cases in a multiple-choice quiz. In contrast, only 14% of adults with a high school diploma or less answered all six questions correctly, and 51% of this group demonstrated low awareness, answering two or fewer questions correctly.

Income also plays a role in AI awareness. Roughly half of upper-income Americans (52%) showed high awareness of AI, compared with just 15% of lower-income adults.

Age differences are evident as well, with younger adults showing greater familiarity with AI than older adults. This is particularly notable for customer service chatbots (75% of adults ages 18–29 recognized AI vs. 45% of those 65 and older) and music playlist recommendations (65% vs. 39%).

Men generally scored higher than women, with 38% of men answering all six questions correctly compared to 23% of women. Women were more likely than men to choose “not sure” for each question, reflecting patterns observed in previous studies of science and political knowledge.

Partisan affiliation appears to have little effect on AI awareness, as Republicans and Democrats performed similarly on the AI awareness scale.

Amid ongoing discussions about AI, the public expresses a cautious outlook on its impact in society. Overall, more Americans report being concerned rather than excited about the growing use of AI in daily life, with 38% saying they are more concerned and 15% saying they are more excited. A large portion—46%—expresses ambivalence, reporting that they feel equally concerned and excited.

References:

1. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/02/15/public-awareness-of-artificial-intelligence-in-everyday-activities/

Cite this article:

Priyadharshini S (2025), Single AI Query Could Emit 50× More Co₂ Than Expected, AnaTechMaz, pp. 3