Make me a study guide with all of the key terms for unit seven of the APUSH curriculum.

Write a thesis about the authorial choices for the main themes in Gatsby.

Create an image of a handsome man washing up on a beach.

Simplify this expression and show work.

Generate–ad nauseam. These are all instances in which students have been asked to embrace AI in the completion of their studies or have had to do so in lieu of traditional teaching methods. The role of AI within the classroom has been a heated topic over the past few years; teachers have been asked to consider including it in their curricula, students have become increasingly reliant on it despite safeguards, and educational platforms have embraced it as a means for memorization and supplementary instruction. As a student myself, AI has completely changed my education; I hesitate to say it has revolutionized it, but from AI-generated search results and AI-powered grammar checkers to the ability to more efficiently create study materials, what’s not to like? 

The West Morris Mendham School District has been named an ‘AI Vanguard District’ by the New Jersey Department of Education. In fact, they were awarded the AI Innovation in Education Grant, essentially funding to integrate AI technology into the existing curriculum further. As a student, I have noticed the subtle (and not-so-subtle) inclusions of AI within our community, and while I can concede that I am not immune to the acute thrill of being satisfied in seconds, I can no longer turn a blind eye to the environmental consequences of our collective apathy. 

Located about sixty miles north of Chicago lies the town of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. While masquerading as another American middle-class suburbia with an active PTO and an unspoken curfew of ten p.m., the town houses the largest AI data center in the United States, known as Microsoft’s Fairwater facility. This location is projected to use as much as 3.3 gigawatts of energy, or more than the entire city of Los Angeles, by 2027 due to the amount of energy needed to automate generative AI, and is just one more example of the stresses that AI technology will induce on our national electrical grid. 

 How dhttps://ig.ft.com/ai-power/oes this relate to me, you ask? 

Every time an AI model is used, even for as menial a task as generating an AI summary of an article just like this one, energy is consumed. Additionally, to prevent these high-powered servers from overheating, cool water must be applied; according to Computing and Climate Impact Fellow at MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) and postdoc in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Noman Bashir, as much as two liters of water for every kilowatt hour of energy. Not only this, but because AI models are constantly undergoing training, they use even more resources as they improve their response quality and accessibility, suggesting that even more energy will be consumed in the future as more individuals become reliant on AI-powered technology.

  Let’s look at one of the most popular generative AI engines used by Mendham High students, one that I have had to use personally to complete assignments, Google’s Gemini. According to a report released by Google on August 21st, 2025, the median prompt uses, on average, about .24 watt-hours of electricity, or the equivalent energy used to power a microwave for one second, and produces about 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide, a known greenhouse gas that directly contributes to global warming and climate change. 

If you think these numbers sound inconsequential, let’s do the math: at the beginning of 2025, according to Google Gemini, the number of daily users surpassed 25 million people. Now, if we were to assume that each person submitted a single median-length prompt per day, that would mean 8,400,000 watt-hours of electricity are consumed, and 1,050,000 grams of carbon dioxide are produced. These are conservative estimates; it is not improbable that most users submit more than one median-length prompt per day, many probably using the app for more complex requests as well. Plus, the number of Gemini users has only increased since these statistics were originally published, now surpassing 750 million monthly users.

While many climatologists argue that changes created by single users will have a negligible impact on reversing climate change, it is also true that one cannot expect collective reform if one does not begin at the individual level; without a trailblazer, there cannot be a well-worn path. Apart from the consequences of AI on climate change, there are several other moral dilemmas and ethical questions to contend with as well. For example, is it just to use a machine that will directly contribute to mass levels of unemployment? What about artists, musicians, and actors? Should AI be used to replace these creative pursuits, and for what purpose? Does the continued generation of soulless slop advance the human race? 

I, along with many others, have reflected on these questions and given our answer: a resounding no. I should have the option not to engage in busywork that not only plateaus my education but also violates my inner conscience; I will not generate my planet’s demise.