Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost 

News: Recent budget has described AI as a sunrise technology that has the potential to assist sustainable development at scale and modernise the country.  

While a large amount of focus is on achieving economic prosperity and global competitiveness with AI, there is hardly any acknowledgement of the environmental cost associated with it. 

What is the climate impact associated with increased use of AI? 

There will be a lot of energy use in training and operating large AI models. 

This with increased demand of AI from developing countries to solve various socio-economic issues will only lead to growing share of AI in technology-linked emissions in the coming decades.  

In 2020, digital technologies accounted for between 1.8% and 6.3% of global emissions.  

What are the challenges in mitigating the environmental impact of AI? 

Although international organisations like UNESCO and Big tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, etc have taken steps to overcome this issue, but they are not sufficient.

Apart from this, the major challenge is inequity in the AI space. That is, few developed economies possess certain material advantages right from the start, and they also set the global rules. They have an advantage in research and development, and possess a skilled workforce as well as wealth to invest in. 

This inequity is visible in the difference in the tech adaptability of government in developing and developed nations, and also under-representation of developing countries on international platforms discussing AI.  

At the same time, the emerging challenge at the nexus of AI and climate change could deepen this inequity.  

What is the way forward? 

Developing countries like India should assess their technology-led growth priorities in the context of AI’s climate costs. India should analyse how it can use AI sustainably in its unique social and economic contexts.

Source: This post is based on the article “Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost” published in The Indian express on 3^rd Feb 2022.