I had help building this website, and I have feelings.

What I'm about to say is probably going to piss some of you off immediately. And I get it. But I hope you'll stay with me while I talk about why I did what I did, and the very complicated feelings that I have about it.

So.

Here goes:

I used AI to help me design this website. I know. I KNOW. Why? Why would I use a tool like AI knowing the negative environmental impact that it has? Especially given the kind of work that I do?

I want you to know that I wrestled with this decision. I went back and forth and back and forth while I stared at a computer screen and made website mock-ups that were honestly... really terrible. Because while I may be a talented artist, my talent lies with certain mediums, and website design is not one of them. I thought about hiring someone, but I don't really have "build me a new website" funds at this point. And let's be honest. The folks "designing" websites ...a lot of them are using AI.

In 2024 Techradar said "Nearly 36% of web designers use AI tools daily, with 32.8% reporting improved productivity and 25.1% getting better efficiency."

And in 2025, that number jumped significantly. A reported 93% of web designers say they're using AI tools in their work, and I can't imagine that that number has gotten smaller in 2026. And of course, the drag and drop website builder platforms are all using AI. The platform that hosts my website is no exception. It's AI heavy.

So after spending over a month fighting with myself about my terrible website, and wrestling with the ethical implications of AI, I just...I gave up. I'm in school now, I have three jobs, I'm still doing environmental education and community service projects...it's a lot. And I need a functioning website. So I decided to use AI. I chose to use Anthropic's "Claude", as it's been said to be one of the least problematic. Sustainability magazine lists Anthropic as one of their top ten ethical AI companies, saying " Anthropic’s approach is distinguished by its commitment to responsible scaling—it advances AI capabilities deliberately, implementing robust safety measures before releasing more powerful models. Anthropic also invests heavily in research on technical alignment and the societal impacts of AI, ensuring its systems align with human values and benefit society at large."

But what does that really mean? I asked Claude what the environmental cost was of having it help me with my website, and the good/bad answer was:

"The honest answer is: I don't know precisely, but it's not nothing. Running AI models requires significant computing power, which draws electricity, which has a carbon footprint that varies depending on the energy source of the data center. Our conversation has been long and involved a lot of image processing and code generation, so it used more energy than a simple text exchange would have."

I also asked Claude "Is AI trying to make itself more energy efficient? Specifically Anthropic and you?"

And Claude replied: "The good news is that Claude 3.7 Sonnet — the model you've been talking to — was ranked the most eco-efficient of 30 mainstream AI models in a recent study, combining strong performance with efficient infrastructure use.( Fast Company)

But the bigger picture is complicated. Anthropic has pledged to absorb electricity price increases caused by its data centers, use water-efficient cooling systems, and pay for 100% of required grid interconnection upgrades. ( Sustainability Magazine) Those are real commitments.

However, Anthropic has not disclosed per-query energy figures and as of March 2026 has not reported emissions in any public filing. (Earth911) So there's a transparency gap.

And honestly, the scale of what's coming is significant. Anthropic projects that training a single frontier AI model will require 2–5 gigawatts of power by 2027–2028."

My hope is that eventually AI will be able to solve the problem of itself. I honestly don't see how it couldn't, because this isn't sustainable.

Ultimately, Claude told me that my use of AI to help redesign my website was probably comparable to a few hours of video streaming, or a short car trip. Not nothing, but also not catastrophic. I still don't feel great about using AI, but I'm also realistic. The truth is, AI technology is simultaneously terrible and wonderful. A lot of that depends on how and at what rate we use it, and I believe that I used it responsibly and with great consideration.

I'm never going to be a perfect environmentalist, and I stopped trying to be a long time ago. I do the best that I can, with the resources and time available to me. Sometimes I have to buy a bottle of water. I drive a car. I bring my lunch to school and work most days, but not every day. My current favorite restaurants only serve food in single use plastic containers. I make choices every day that I'm not comfortable with, but I do try to make choices that align with my values and the world that I operate in, and I try to use my voice to help others make meaningful choices and changes.

And you know, realistically...even the most thoughtful, well intentioned, "right thing to do" choice can go absolutely sideways, despite your best intentions. Like...we recently had solar panels put on our house and...I have complicated feelings. I'll tell you about it sometime. When I'm done being mad.

I guess I just always have complicated feelings. Anyway, I believe very much in being honest with you, and I thought you should know how I built this new website. With my own ideas, some AI, and some very complicated feelings.

love, Jessica