Are AI and Data Centers Harmful? – Climate Generation

AI, it’s ubiquitous. It snuck into our everyday lives without consent or understanding; it is on our cell phones and other devices, in our Google searches, in our video conferencing and gathering spaces, and in our health and education systems. Hailed as a path to efficiency, the ways we can take advantage have even been touted by some of our funders. I’ve also been in zoom meetings with other climate justice advocates where AI note taking apps are activated without thought or consent. We are taking time to pause, at Climate Generation, and lean into understanding all of the consequences associated with AI. Join us in this exploration.

The stated big benefit of AI is that it can detect patterns in data, like anomalies and similarities, and use historic knowledge to accurately predict future outcomes. It is important to note that the historical data on which AI is trained is often full of bias, so then, the patterns it might detect are full of bias. AI is likely to further perpetuate historical bias. Given that understanding, we can move on to understand the impact on climate change.

“When we think about the environmental impact of generative AI, it is not just the electricity you consume when you plug the computer in. There are much broader consequences that go out to a system level and persist based on actions that we take,” says Elsa A. Olivetti, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the lead of the Decarbonization Mission of MIT’s new Climate Project.  

What is different about generative AI is the power density it requires. That density of power is only possible in giant data centers. There are currently 5,426 data centers in the United States. In Minnesota, where our offices are located, there are 60, with plans to expand and build more. These data centers can take a heavy toll on the planet, and that harm falls into 4 buckets.

1. The electronics they house rely on a staggering amount of raw materials. Making a 2 kg computer requires 800 kg of raw materials.The microchips that power AI need rare earth elements, which are often mined in environmentally destructive ways.
2. The second problem is that data centers produce electronic waste, which often contains hazardous substances, like mercury and lead. E-waste is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world. In 2022, an estimated 62 million tons of e-waste were produced globally. Only 22.3% was documented as formally collected and recycled.
3. Data centers use water during construction and, once operational, to cool electrical components. Globally, AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of 6 million, according to one estimate. That is a problem when a quarter of humanity already lacks access to clean water and sanitation and creates a strain on municipal water supplies and disrupts local ecosystems.
4. Data centers that host AI technology need a lot of energy, which in most places still comes from the burning of fossil fuels, producing planet-warming greenhouse gases. A request made through ChatGPT, an AI-based virtual assistant, consumes 10 times the electricity of a Google Search, reported the International Energy Agency. “The demand for new data centers cannot be met in a sustainable way. The pace at which companies are building new data centers means the bulk of the electricity to power them must come from fossil fuel-based power plants,” says Norman Bashir, Computing and Climate Impact Fellow at MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC). 

Based on all of this, we are rethinking when and how, and even if, we will use AI at Climate Generation. How about you?