Watermark'd

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  An example of the extension in action

Inspiration

The U.S. is a leading country in AI usage and is projected to use 731-1125 million m^3 amounts of water and generate 24-44 megatons of CO2 each year between 2024 and 2030, which is never good for the environment. We want to spread awareness about AI use and its consequences by visualizing the impact and encouraging users to donate to charities and set sustainable goals by adding a limit to their water usage.

What it does

The Chrome extension measures how much water is being used per user query using an estimate equation.

How we built it

We mainly used Git for version control and Figma to generate a rough prototype and visualize our future improvements.

Challenges we ran into

Our initial idea was to build a Gemini wrapper which would calculate how much water is being used per Gemini query through the Gemini API. However, halfway through the project we decided to create a Chrome extension for ChatGPT instead due to personal preferences and impact outlook. Another challenge we ran into was creating an accurate model for estimating water usage, which required reading through many research papers.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We have a working Chrome extension that is successfully working with ChatGPT to generate the water usage per query. We are also really proud that we were able to create a total water tracker for each user account which when made clickable would give them direct access to various charities where they can donate to reduce their watermark'd score.

What we learned

This project helped us expand our knowledge in AI's impact on the environment, fresh water, and clean energy. We got to research exactly how much water is being used by AI, specifically ChatGPT and how we are projected to grow in those numbers in the future. We also conducted additional research to come up with credible charities that would help the users support our cause by helping protect the environment and give clean drinking water.

What's next for Watermark'd

We hope to work on our improvements and make the design more compelling for the user by having pop-ups that would insight empathy by providing possible alternatives for the water used by AI. We also hope to make a water tracker which would allow the user to set a sustainability goal regarding how much water they are willing to use for their queries and once the tracker hits its limit, the user would have to start a new chat. Another improvement we believe would push our design forward is making a clickable button that shows the user their water usage per account that when clicked would lead them to different water and environment charities where they can donate a certain amount to reduce their watermark'd score.

Built With

• javascript