AI is significantly impacting our minds, our environment and resources. If you use WordPress for your blog or website, and want to minimize your use of AI, this post includes simple steps you can take to reduce the demand for AI by disabling it on your website.
AI impact is growing
- According to the US Congress (1), U.S. data center annual energy use in 2023 was approximately 4.4% of all U.S. annual electricity consumption. Some projections show that data center energy consumption could double or triple by 2028.
- A study estimates that a 100 megawatt U.S. data center may consume roughly 530,000 gallons of water per DAY, used for cooling since all the electronic equipment in operation creates a lot of heat.
Disabling WordPress AI Features
Open your wp-config.php file, either on your website host’s server or follow your host’s directions to connect with SFTP through an app such as Transmit. Just above the line near the bottom of the file that says /* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */, copy and paste this:
define( 'WP_AI_SUPPORT', false );Disabling Jetpack AI Features
If you use Jetpack you also need to turn it off separately. The simplest way to do this is to add it to your child theme’s functions.php file (again, connect to your files on your website hosting server) or you can use a plugin for code snippets, such as WP Code or Code Snippets.
add_filter( 'jetpack_ai_enabled', '__return_false' );