Researchers are questioning the efforts of companies and governments to achieve so-called net-zero emissions targets while also backing the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), whose emissions are now projected to “far exceed” those of air travel. [emphasis, links added]
“Tech companies’ self-reported global emissions have been growing rapidly – even before the generative AI boom,” say University of Cambridge researchers, explaining that the sector will be the source of 8% of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the next decade.
“Increasing investment in AI infrastructure will come with large costs in terms of carbon emissions, electricity use, and water consumption,” the team warns in a report published in July.
Companies and governments have spent heavily in recent years on following and enforcing “net zero” stipulations aimed at reducing or eliminating carbon emissions by mid-century.
However, the researchers are concerned that governments are increasingly promoting AI as the next big technological advance, despite its voracious appetite for electricity and concerns that it poses a threat to the jobs of millions, with data centers already sucking up between 2%-4% of power in China, Europe, and the US.
“Energy grids are already stretched,” said John Naughton, chair of the Advisory Board at Cambridge’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy. “Every megawatt allocated to AI data centres will be a megawatt unavailable for housing or manufacturing.”
Read rest at Yahoo! News
