---
title: Day 17 of Green, Efficient AI is live — The Invisible Payload.
type: post
date: 2026-07-03
source: linkedin
original_url: "https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7478755168109486080"
topics: ["green-software", "ai-economics", "agentic-ai"]
summary: Day 17 of Green, Efficient AI is live — The Invisible Payload. A user asks a support agent to reset their password — seven words, roughly ten tokens. The trace shows the model actually receives thousands of tokens. A system prompt written months ago. Every…
draft: false
---

Day 17 of Green, Efficient AI is live — The Invisible Payload.

A user asks a support agent to reset their password — seven words, roughly ten tokens. The trace shows the model actually receives thousands of tokens. A system prompt written months ago. Every tool schema in the catalog, whether the tool is needed or not. Few-shot examples fixing behaviours long since stabilised. Formatting rules. Safety framing. The user's question is at the bottom.

The prompt the model reads is not the prompt the user wrote. And the difference between the two is what shows up on the bill.

Four rungs inside: Inventory, Trim, Split, Amortise.

Read the full issue in today's edition

Green Software Foundation #greenai #efficentai #aieconomics #leanagenticai