Climate & Resources
AI can be green: Fire up the GPUs
The energy footprint of training and running AI models is a drop in the ocean compared to what these models make possible for the major environmental benefits now, and in the future. We believe we should be training more models rather than handicapping development. A subject of much debate is the increased environmental impact of […]
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An Opportunity or a Disaster? AI’s Impact on the Climate Crisis is More Complicated than You Think
The (Potential) Opportunity Improving energy efficiency in various industries, assisting the renewable energy grid management, allowing intelligent waste recycling, and assisting environmental policy-making. All of these ways of mitigating the climate crisis, and many more, are being made possible thanks to the increased capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI). Various academics (for example, see Cowls et […]
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Decoding the Dirty Side of Big Data: Environmental Unsustainability Revealed and Solutions Unveiled
In the relentless march of technological progress, the dirty underbelly of our data-centric world emerges. As our reliance on big data grows, so too does its impact on our environment. Unseen and often overlooked, the colossal energy consumption of data centers poses a dire threat to our planet’s delicate balance. By 2025, these data centers […]
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Looking Beyond the Hype: Revealing the Dangers of Large Language Models
With the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, hype around Large Language Models (LLMs) has grown, signaling the start of what seems like an arms race as companies push to create ever larger models. Many readers have likely asked ChatGPT some silly questions, but how many are aware of the potential dangers posed by such seemingly innocent […]
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AI benefits outweigh the negatives on climate
AI can be a powerful ally in tackling numerous global challenges we face today. While critics often point out the energy consumption of AI systems, it’s important to consider this in the broader context of global carbon emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency states that major sources of these emissions include agriculture, which accounts for 24% […]
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The Worrying Sustainability of LLMs
In the past year, major tech conferences have had a buzzword overflow caused by the word “AI.” Realistically, what Google, Microsoft, and Meta mean when discussing AI is Large Language Model (LLM). These are ginormous systems of computing, costing hundreds of millions to set up and run in electricity costs, worker costs, and cooling water […]
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AI’s Paradox of Progress: A Worthwhile Cost for Climate Change Breakthroughs
Dubai, December 2023. During the UN’s climate summit (COP28), representatives of 198 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels – a world first. Moving from one of the largest petrostates to its second-largest consumer, the USA, we see the importance of this topic being underlined beyond the diplomatic world. In a video that’s somewhere […]
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Transparency: the Starting Point of Affirmative Climate Action
Why governments should enforce Big Tech companies to be transparent about their environmental and social impact Introduction In 2022 it was estimated that roughly 1.7% of the world’s electricity was used by large Information and Communication Industry (ICT) services which power all computers giving power to Amazon and Google cloud. However, this 1.7% is projected […]
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AI at a climate crossroad: Managing the environmental footprint while unleashing it’s potential on climate change
The fast-growing industry of AI has taken center stage in today’s society. Models such as Google’s search engines, Netflix’s recommendation system, and chatGPT have become indispensable in our everyday lives. Yet, despite the allure of these models, have we overlooked the shadows they cast on our planet? Are we steering AI toward an environmental disaster […]
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Why AI carries an unfair stigma within the topic of climate change
Many articles today tend to focus on the downsides of AI, like its energy consumption, environmental impact, and the fear of it replacing humans. However, it’s time to shift this negative perspective and start paying more attention to and believing in the benefits and innovations that AI has to offer. In the field of climate […]
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