AI & Sustainability
Adults & Seniors
by LearnX Digital
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being developed and adopted by businesses, organisations, and individuals worldwide at an unprecedented pace over the last few years. With this development, the issue of sustainability and AI’s potential impact on the environment have also come into the spotlight.
What do we know about AI's impact on sustainability so far?
Discussion Points
In other words, AI requires massive computational power and uses a vast amount of electricity to power its data centres. This has potentially significant negative impact on climate change. What exactly are the known environmental impacts of AI?
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “data centres account for 1% of global electricity use”, and is “responsible for 1% of energy-related greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions”. The IEA also forecast that the electricity demand by data centres will more than double from 2022-2026, with AI being a major contributor. To illustrate, ChatGPT alone is estimated to consume half a million kilowatt-hours daily, 17,000 times more electricity than the average US household daily.
Vast amounts of fresh water are also needed to cool the systems that power AI. According to researchers from University of California, Riverside, it is projected that “the global AI demand may be accountable for 4.2 – 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of half of the United Kingdom”.
So far, we’ve explored how AI affects the environment negatively, but it is not all doom and gloom. AI also has the potential to be a powerful tool to combat climate change itself.
A study found that AI can act as an enabler but could also inhibit United Nation's Sustainability Developmental Goals (SDG), in particular SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy) and 13 (climate action).
Here are some ways AI is being used in various sectors for environmental sustainability:
The era of AI is unfolding before us in dynamic and dizzying ways. Although AI and sustainability is a contentious topic, it is worth exploring and keeping our eyes peeled on its development as the world grapples with AI and technological development at large.
Video Recommendations
This video discusses AI’s positive climate impact, its resource drains and AI regulations in place:
This video focuses on AI’s carbon footprint:
Book Recommendations
How Digital Environmentalism Can Combat Climate Change, Restore Biodiversity, Cultivate Empathy, and Regenerate the Earth
Author: Karen Bakker
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Connect and Learn with NLB
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References
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