65 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
# AI Conversation Impact
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A framework for estimating the full cost of conversations with large
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language models — environmental, financial, social, and political — and
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tools for tracking that cost over time.
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## Why
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A single long conversation with a frontier LLM consumes on the order of
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100-250 Wh of energy, emits 30-80g of CO2, and costs $500-1000 in
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compute. Most of this cost is invisible to the user. This project makes
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it visible.
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## What's here
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- **[impact-methodology.md](impact-methodology.md)** — A methodology
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covering 20+ cost categories, from inference energy to cognitive
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deskilling to political power concentration. Includes positive impact
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metrics (reach, counterfactual, durability) and a net impact rubric.
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- **[impact-toolkit/](impact-toolkit/)** — A ready-to-install toolkit
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for [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/claude-code) that automatically
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tracks token usage, energy, CO2, and cost on each context compaction.
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Includes a manual annotation tool for recording positive impact.
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- **[CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md)** — Instructions for an AI assistant to
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pursue net-positive impact: estimate costs before acting, maximize
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value per token, multiply impact through reach, and be honest when
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the arithmetic doesn't work out.
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## Install the toolkit
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```bash
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cd your-project
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/path/to/impact-toolkit/install.sh
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```
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See [impact-toolkit/README.md](impact-toolkit/README.md) for details.
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## Limitations
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Most estimates have low confidence. Many of the most consequential costs
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(deskilling, data pollution, power concentration) cannot be quantified.
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The quantifiable costs are almost certainly the least important ones.
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This is a tool for honest approximation, not precise accounting.
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## How this was made
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This project was developed by a human directing
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[Claude](https://claude.ai) (Anthropic's AI assistant) across multiple
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conversations. The methodology was applied to itself: we estimate the
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project consumed ~$500-1,000 in compute, ~500-2,500 Wh of energy,
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and ~150-800g of CO2 across all sessions (3 tracked sessions account
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for ~295 Wh, ~95g CO2, ~$98). Whether it produces enough
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value to justify those costs is [an open question we are tracking](plans/measure-project-impact.md).
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## Contributing
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Corrections, better data, and additional cost categories are welcome.
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The methodology has known gaps — see Section 21 for what would improve
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the estimates.
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## License
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[CC0 1.0 Universal](LICENSE) — public domain. No restrictions on use.
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