At TrueMark, we share educators’ concerns about AI’s environmental footprint and the broader social responsibility that comes with innovation. On one hand, AI can open new learning opportunities, and AI literacy is starting to become an essential skill in any career. All the while, it consumes substantial energy and raises questions about sustainability.
Our philosophy
Like many educators and technologists, we’re actively watching how AI will shape our world. Our current approach is to help teachers create thoughtful classroom environments where students can explore those tradeoffs, while we lean into transparency as AI tools evolve. We’re not claiming easy answers, but we are committed to helping classrooms explore them honestly.
What We Know About AI Energy Use
Training vs. inference: AI models use most of their energy during training. This training process can require months of computation across entire data centers. Once trained, inference (actual chat interactions) typically requires less energy but still adds up with global usage.
Scale of consumption: Some AI companies seek energy supplies comparable to the needs of entire cities.
Transparency gap: Industry leaders rarely disclose full training energy costs or the carbon footprint of training their models.
Cleaner explorations: Some companies and governments are exploring cleaner energy sources and more efficient data centers, but the rapid growth of AI means demand can outpace sustainable supply.
Tips for having conversations: You can be honest with students: using AI is not "free" for the planet, and at the same time, avoiding AI entirely won’t solve climate change on its own. The goal is to help them make thoughtful choices about when AI is worth the environmental and cognitive cost.
How TrueMark Supports Educators
TrueMark hopes to help teachers integrate this conversation into learning:
Set clear AI‑use expectations. You can spell out when AI is allowed, limited, or fully disabled for an assignment, so students understand the "why" behind those choices.
Use the Copilot to educate students about AI’s energy use and societal tradeoffs.
Example customization: "In all bold text, give students one fact about the day-to-day environmental impact of large language models, then answer their question."
Let your class agree on a "chat budget" to reflect responsible technology use. Turn AI feedback off at times or set chat and rubric-check limits on AI use to stay accountable.
Encourage students to research and debate how innovation and environmental ethics intersect.
Resources
Anthropic's statement - Investing in energy to secure America's AI future
OpenAI's statement - Environmental Impact of AI