And the real maddening part is that search engines have been so enshitfied to make way for AI that’s wrong like 9/10, so you’re forced to rely on it for answers because if you try google, the snake wraps around and eats it’s own tail giving you an AI answer! 
Inference is not that cheap. It is cheap when compared with training. Try running LLMs on a laptop and watch how quickly your battery is sucked dry. This is still the case when you have a GPU.
i’m probably using more power to microwave my pasta dinner