Simon WillisonApr 29, 2025

I'm glad somebody out there is brave enough to push back against the "personal ChatGPT usage is terrible for the environment" message https://andymasley.substack.com/p/a-cheat-sheet-for-conversations-about

"If you want to prompt ChatGPT 40 times, you can just stop your shower 1 second early."

"If I choose not to take a flight to Europe, I save 3,500,000 ChatGPT searches. this is like stopping more than 7 people from searching ChatGPT for their entire lives."

Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment - a cheat sheet

The numbers clearly show this is a pointless distraction for the climate movement

Andy Masley
Show threadUlliApr 29, 2025
@simon
You miss one important thing, your shower has a purpose and gives you a valuable result…
Show threadSimon WillisonApr 29, 2025
@Ulli the "but LLMs aren't actually useful" argument is covered by that piece too (it's very well constructed) https://andymasley.substack.com/p/a-cheat-sheet-for-conversations-about?#%C2%A7this-is-all-a-gimmick-anyway-why-not-just-use-google-chatgpt-doesnt-give-better-information
Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment - a cheat sheet

The numbers clearly show this is a pointless distraction for the climate movement

Andy Masley
Show threadPasswordsarehard4
@simon @Ulli no it isn’t, it’s waved away. It admit it could be useless and then says even if it is useless that’s ok because so are many other things we like. I can trust my shower, I can’t trust what they are giving us. If my shower changed to hydrochloric acid once I’d drop and never look back.
Apr 29, 2025 at 7:18pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadSimon WillisonApr 29, 2025

@passwordsarehard4 @Ulli you are making a slightly different argument there

The piece argues that it's OK spending minimal energy on things that are useless (which the author and myself both believe or to be the case for LLMs)

It looks to me like you are arguing against spending energy on things that are actively harmful

Show threadSimon WillisonApr 29, 2025

@passwordsarehard4 @Ulli and yes, if there were no way to use LLMs that did not actively harm the user I would support discouraging their use of even outright banning them, independently of their energy usage

I do not believe it is the case that all uses of LLMs actively harm their users - I think they require thoughtful application and we need to work hard to help people understand their many limitations and flaws

Show threadUlliApr 29, 2025
@simon @passwordsarehard4
Of course!
Everybody things he could be smarten then anybody else while he is using a LLM for things, a LLM is not made for…
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