A coalition of environmental groups has cast doubt on claims that artificial intelligence (AI) can help solve the climate crisis, warning that the technology is more likely to cause rising energy use and turbocharge the spread of climate disinformation.
The report by the Climate Action against Disinformation coalition argues that the burgeoning electricity demands of AI will lead to an 80% increase in planet-heating emissions, even with measures to improve energy efficiency. Estimates suggest AI servers could consume as much energy as the entire country of Sweden within just three years.
Much of this increased energy use stems from the growing complexity of AI operations, with generating AI queries requiring up to 10 times the computing power of a regular online search. Training the ChatGPT system, for instance, can use as much energy as 120 US households over a year.
The report also warns that AI will further hinder efforts to constrain the climate emergency by providing an easier way for people or organizations to spread false or misleading statements about climate science. This will worsen the existing problem of climate science denial on major social media platforms.
While some experts remain cautiously optimistic that AI can have a net positive impact by aiding climate modeling, tracking illegal fishing, and predicting wildfires, the coalition calls for greater transparency about AI’s energy use and safeguards to monitor the output of climate falsehoods.
The findings cast doubt on the prevalent narrative that AI will be a savior in the fight against climate change, underscoring the need for policymakers and tech companies to carefully consider the potential downsides of AI’s rapid growth and development.
By The Guardian
Photo by Mika Baumeister
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