As far as I know it is still much more expensive compare to alternatives like grammar checker and web search. Especially give that model already searches the web on its own in many queries.
Just because inference is more efficient than an training, which consumes energy on the scale of nation states, doesn’t mean inference itself is econonical.
I used ddg and startpage, they are both great. Although I slightly perfer ddg, but stays with startpage because it is european.
I also turn on ads to support them. However, now I have more money but less time to scroll pass all these ads, I switched to kagi, which is ad-free and fast. The price is not cheap and they are not based in Europe (they are registered in the U.S. with employees all over the world, which is technically better than U.S. centric ddg), however there is no alternatives that I am aware of.
I never talked to my parent about this, but I imagine way better. My dad is one of the earlier master degree holder in China. He got his PhD much later; I believe around his 40s.
At my age, my dad is an entry level doctor and my mom an entry level nurse. They live in a room of 10 square meter assigned by the hospital they work in.
I am at the end of my 20s and is an assistant professor; a very busy job, but nevertheless stable, which is an excellent perk in this economy. The pay is not bad (not as much as industry though) and the work is really fulfilling. The only unfortunate part is that I almost always need to work overtime. It is not uncommon for me to work from waking up to going to bed, if not working into midnight.
For additional reference, boiling a liter of water takes just shy of 100Wh (not counting heat absorbed by kettles or heat distributed into the air): https://www.quora.com/How-many-watts-do-I-need-to-heat-1-liter-of-water