Even if you don’t worry that artificial intelligence (AI) will destroy the human race, you might fret that its fearsome appetite for electricity will destroy the environment. Asking ChatGPT a question means using ten times more energy than an old-fashioned search query. Google’s greenhouse-gas emissions rose by nearly half between 2019 and 2023, as the AI boom took off; Microsoft’s are up by almost 30% since 2020. With huge investments in new data centres planned, more rises seem baked in. But the doom-mongering is misplaced. In absolute terms, AI may be less energy-hungry than many people assume. Better still, AI can help decarbonise the industries that have proved hardest to clean up.