The footprint of a question
The 10th-grade group raised the environmental impact of AI. This infographic investigates it, using only primary-source figures.
Fill in the spaces and watch it change
We want to make an infographic about how much energy and water is used when someone asks an AI assistant a question. First, before giving any figures, tell us which primary sources (reports from the companies themselves, from energy agencies, or scientific papers) we could consult, and what is not known for certain. Then propose the structure of a one-page infographic with: a headline, what uses energy, a comparison with everyday things, and what one person can do, and a “What we don’t know” box. Don’t write any figure that doesn’t come with its source; where you don’t have one, write “SOURCE PENDING”. Our hypothesis, written before asking you, is: we think one question uses about as much as charging a phone.
3 fields are missing: they will be copied with the examples. The examples are fine to start with, but your own details are what make the piece yours.
Where it is made: A text assistant (chat), the one your Learning Facilitator set up for the Unit.
- The room first, the machine after: 3 minutes with phones face down to write your hypothesis; only then do you paste the instruction.
- Before pasting anything, write by hand: “What we think will come out: ______.” When you see the result, note whether what you anticipated came out or not.
- Look up the sources it proposes; if one doesn’t exist, write that down: that is a finding too.
- At the end: which of our hypotheses was better than the machine’s, and why? Did the instruction get better, or did the question?
- C1: every figure in the infographic has its primary source, verified by the team.
- C2: the “What we don’t know” box is honest and specific.
- C3: we can say whether, between attempt 1 and attempt 2, the instruction got better or the question got better, and why.
And at the end: did the prompt get better, or did the question?
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