How AI can help or harm the environment

Global energy use for information technology has hovered around 1% for the past few years, a startling statistic given how important the sector and datacenter use have become.

But that may change in the coming years as companies and governments start to rely more on artificial intelligence, and its growing computing power consumes more energy and resources.

So while the data centers required to support AI technologies represent a huge economic development opportunity for state and local governments, their energy-intensive nature could create even greater strains than they are already experiencing. This reality may lead state and local leaders to call for a more cautious approach.

By one estimate, increased use of AI could double data center electricity demand by 2026. The amount of water needed to cool data centers would also rise sharply, potentially impacting water supplies. Meanwhile, e-waste could increase as the chips needed to run AI software are created and then discarded when they run out.

“We're trying to be diligent and thoughtful,” Boston's Chief Information Officer Santiago Garces said during a recent Route Fifty Innovation Spotlight on AI leadership. Using these tools is expensive. From an environmental standpoint, these tools can be expensive, too. They require a lot of energy. Energy requires cooling, which means water.

But the true impact will likely be unknown for some time.Tech companies have historically been able to achieve economies of scale in their data centers, stay energy efficient and keep costs down, Benjamin C. Lee, a professor of electrical and systems engineering and computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview.

Generative AI models like ChatGPT will be much more computationally expensive than traditional datacenter work, he said. For example, if a Google web search consumes a certain amount of energy, asking ChatGPT for an answer could consume seven to 10 times as much energy. If everyone starts using GPT like a search engine, that would mean a massive increase in energy costs.

Despite these environmental challenges, some leaders see potential benefits. Katie Ruckel, Washington state's chief privacy officer, said at the Route Fifty event that there are some interesting use cases for the technology. She pointed to experiments using AI to detect wildfires and sort seaweed, which are very specific to the state's environmental concerns.

The issue has also caught the attention of some in Congress: In February, a group of Democratic elected officials from both houses introduced the Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impact Act, which would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop standards for measuring and reporting on the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.

The bill, which has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee for debate, would require the lab to create a voluntary framework for AI developers to report on their environmental impacts and mandate an interagency study to explore the pros and cons.

When it comes to the environment, the use of AI has a Dickensian nature: AI can make the planet better or worse, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said in a statement. Developing the next generation of AI tools cannot come at the expense of the health of the planet.

Penns Lee said that AI's greater reliance on sustainable energy sources is a positive step forward, but acknowledged that the technology is far from being carbon neutral. Carrie Coreanese, a professor of law and political science at the university, said relying on more sustainable energy sources to power AI would go hand in hand with the overall transition away from fossil fuels that is underway across the economy.

GPT promises to deliver huge productivity gains, Lee said. This is a tool that will change the way we live and work, so I think we should give AI a bit more room to run before saying we need to go carbon neutral in AI computing.

Mandatory reporting on AI's environmental impacts would also help leaders understand how energy and other resources are being used. In a statement released by Marquis' office as the bill was introduced, various environmental groups said such transparency is key to understanding the harm that AI could cause.

One of the many unknowns about AI is its environmental impact, Kaili Lambe, director of policy and advocacy at the nonprofit Accountable Tech, said in a statement. As rapid advances lead to increasingly widespread use of LLMs and other data-intensive AI systems, there is an urgent need to understand and take steps to mitigate unintended harms, including potential environmental degradation. Too often, transparency takes a backseat when it comes to innovations from big tech companies.

That means state and local governments will need to find ways to innovate and experiment with new technologies while being careful not to negatively impact the environment and ambitious goals of fighting climate change. Garces said it's about finding a balance between public use and cost.

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