Are We Hypocritical About AI?

September 26, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

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Welcome back to Verified by BOOM!

Every Saturday, we dive into how young minds are navigating life online—from digital safety and online harms to the ethics of emerging tech.

This week, we're looking at viral social media trends, nostalgia, and a silent conflict brewing between generations online.

When viral AI filters started turning everyone into 1980s retro rockstars, 17-year-old Srija Banerjee jumped at the chance to try it out. But as backlashes against "frivolous AI use" began flooding her timeline, she noticed a glaring contradiction in how her own generation uses technology.

Here is her lived experience.

LIVED EXPERIENCE

As a 17-year-old, I’ve always been kind of obsessed with the 1980s. I’ve always wanted to try out '80s fashion, so when that AI trend blew up—the one turning everyone into retro rockstars—I had to try it. I uploaded a picture, and just like that, I was transported back in time.

Looking through my feed, it seemed like everyone from every generation was jumping on this. Influencers posted their retro edits, and for the most part, it felt like harmless fun. But lately, there’s been a pretty loud pushback, mostly from my own generation.

People are posting comments like, "I don't care what you would’ve looked like in the '80s; I'd rather have clean water in the future."

The environmental cost of AI is a real issue, but I think this argument misses why older generations are actually doing this. Back in the '80s, especially here in India, most people didn't have the chance to mess around with the bold, Westernised fashion trends we see in old media. For them, these photos aren't just a gimmick—it's a fun, innocent way to imagine a side of themselves they never got to express. They should be allowed to enjoy that nostalgia without getting called out for it.

Besides, the outrage from my generation feels a bit hypocritical. The same people complaining about the environmental effects of photo generation are using AI every single day to write school notices, summarise readings, or solve math homework just to save time.

Reports show that Gen Z trusts and uses AI heavily, even while research points out how oblivious many of us can be about its actual limits.

I use AI for my schoolwork too, and knowing the environmental impact definitely makes me feel guilty. But if we’re using AI left and right just for our own convenience, do we really have the right to judge older generations for using it for a bit of self-expression?

Instead of roasting people for making fun nostalgic photos, we need to be honest about our own heavy AI use. If we actually care about the planet, that starts with changing our own daily habits, not just calling other people out online.

THE CONTEXT

What’s Really Going On?

Srija’s experience highlights a crucial dilemma in the modern digital landscape: we rarely see the physical footprint of the software we use daily.

How Heavy is a Single Image?

  • Energy Consumption: Research from Carnegie Mellon University and Hugging Face indicates that generating a single image using generative AI can consume roughly the same amount of electricity as fully charging a smartphone.

  • The Water Footprint: AI servers require millions of litres of water for evaporative cooling in data centers. Generating a single AI image carries an estimated water footprint of around 29 ml (about two tablespoons). When millions of users generate 10–15 versions of an '80s avatar, those numbers multiply exponentially.

  • Text vs Image: While text-based queries (summarising homework, drafting notes) use less energy per prompt than high-resolution image rendering, the sheer volume of daily text queries by students makes homework automation a massive cumulative energy task.

THE GLOBAL FEED

  • A 2026 report by 🔗 UNICEF ↗️ reveals that over 13 million children worldwide now regularly rely on AI tools for homework, prompting international calls for improved environmental and digital literacy in school curriculum.

  • Tech giants are 🔗 facing ↗️ heightened regulatory pressure in Europe and North America over the skyrocketing water consumption of AI data centers, with local communities demanding strict limits on local water table usage.

  • A recent 🔗 RAND ↗️ report found that 67% of students believe relying on AI for homework is harming their critical thinking skills, pushing school boards globally to establish clearer guidelines on ethical tech use.

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Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

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