Prioritising AI over climate change would be catastrophic
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Big Tech is currently pushing the narrative that AI will solve the climate crisis – but at what cost? Professor Neil Woodcock asks
Eric Schmidt made some bold statements at the recent AI summit in Washington, DC. The ex Google CEO argued that we shouldn’t limit AI’s energy consumption out of concern for climate change, even suggesting that we focus on AI ahead of climate change as advancing AI will eventually solve the climate crisis.
Schmidt’s ‘AI versus climate change’ comments obviously align with his major business investments in AI companies and his belief in AI’s potential is understandable. AI is already proving valuable in so many areas of our lives and, as far as the climate is concerned, specifically in areas like energy and process optimisation, climate modeling such as predicting droughts in Africa, data analysis and supporting smarter decision-making. There’s no doubt AI will be a massive help in the fight against climate change, but framing AI as a solution that should take precedence over climate action is misguided.
AI is part of the problem
AI can help us tackle environmental challenges, but it is not a silver bullet. It cannot address the root causes of climate change—like industrial emissions, deforestation, and overconsumption without broader systemic and policy changes. With regards to overconsumption, people will buy more stuff when prompted by the AI driven algorithms of Amazon and other e-commerce platforms.
In addition, AI itself is energy intensive.
Interesting perspective! ?? AI can certainly support climate solutions, but it’s also a notable contributor to emissions. Research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that training a large-scale AI model can emit up to 626,000 pounds of CO?—comparable to the lifetime emissions of five cars. This carbon cost raises the question: can we make AI itself more energy-efficient? Innovations like energy-optimised chips or eco-friendly data centers could help AI align better with sustainable goals.