Many express concerns about the environmental impacts of AI and animal agriculture, but which is more harmful to our environment?
The data centres which house AI make massive quantities of electronic waste, including harmful materials like lead and mercury. Producing a 2kg computer uses 800kg of raw materials, and their microchips are made of rare earth elements whose mining damages ecosystems and relies on human laborious exploitation. These data centres use tons of electricity which result in increased emissions of greenhouse gases which significantly contribute to global warming. In fact, the carbon footprint of AI centres was equivalent to the entirety of New York City in 2025. Moreover, machines become very hot and require constant cooling with water; in 2025, their water footprint was comparable to the entire global consumption of bottled water.
If these statistics concern you, then you clearly care for the wellbeing of our planet. Nonetheless, many people who reduce their use of AI or avoid it altogether, will still eat animal products, ignorant of their disastrous environmental impact. Animal agriculture uses approximately 70% of all agricultural land, is responsible for huge biodiversity loss, ecological ‘dead zones’ and 30% of the planet’s freshwater resources.
Let’s compare usage of AI and consumption of animal products. Producing 50g of beef releases the same amount of CO2 as 617,000 questions to AI. Meanwhile producing the equivalent protein of peas releases CO2 equivalent to 6,700 questions. Those truly concerned about the environmental impact of AI could avoid releasing CO2 equivalent to approximately 610,3000 searches by choosing the plant-based protein over the beef.
To be very clear, in light of this information we must continue to reduce or avoid using AI as it is responsible for copious other negative impacts, including large-scale misinformation, violations of data privacy, mass unemployment, cyberattacks, physical danger and loss of human control. However, for those concerned about the environmental impacts, it is simply contradictory to have concerns about using AI whilst consuming animal products which results in worse environmental destruction.
We have a moral responsibility to our planet and all its inhabitants to stop eating animals products and reduce or eliminate our usage of AI.