Everyday, I see a new product, website, or app advertised as including the newest artificial intelligence (AI) features to enhance user experience and I let out another sigh. Many of these AI tools
are a waste of AI’s capabilities and more harmful than most people realize.
For most, the debate on AI usage is very polarized. Oftentimes, they see AI features as a new and exciting technology that is a thousand times better than anything not created by AI, or the opposite: just another product created using AI that could be used to take over human jobs and the world.
As someone who has an avid interest in computer science and is a leadership member of the Cyber Club, I could not disagree with both of these statements more. I have had a life-long passion for environmental advocacy, and I hardly ever touch AI tools unless necessary.
The average American is unaware how computers and AI work. Essentially, when you open your web browser, your computer sends information to and receives information from a data center. Data centers house large machines known as servers that host tons of information that programs, applications, the cloud, the internet, ect., need to function. While they make our devices work, they also release a lot of emissions into the environment, since machines that are that large heat up very quickly and need large cooling systems in order to function properly and not overheat.
AI takes more power than the average browser search or online video game for the computer to process because AI transmits and receives more information than typical applications. In fact, one prompt answered by Chat GPT (a popular text generative AI application) consumed 100 times more energy than one search query in Google in 2023 (Columbia Climate School). It’s important to acknowledge AI used in different applications do consume different amounts of energy, but the emissions amassed is worth more than the part of its whole.
However, just because AI releases massive amounts of emissions, that doesn’t mean we should never use it- there needs to be a limit to what we should use it for. Most AI-users use AI for menial tasks that can easily be done by oneself (i.e. writing emails, doing homework). While this can be beneficial and save time, it’s also a waste of emissions and AI tools. Instead, we should be using AI for tasks that humans can’t reasonably complete and that will have a lasting impact. For instance, AI has been used to create a recipe for vegan cheese that is sustainable and delicious and to predict and enhance possible extreme weather outlooks and other causes of climate change.
We can’t just abandon the concept of this new age of AI we are entering- it would be completely idiotic to do so. However, if we go in the direction of current trends and use it for everything, then we’ll rapidly increase the trajectory of climate change. As a society, we must find a balance of when to use it and when to not, while keeping in mind our environmental footprint and impact AI use has on the world around us.
