Scrolling through the new feeds or generating an answer from AI applications has become a common scenario. But while we are occupied with these, our planet is suffering. Which is why researchers are mentioning how AI and social media may worsen the climate crisis.
In a recently published article in the journal Global Environmental Politics, UBC professor Dr. Hamish van der Ven and his colleagues argue on generative AI’s environmental impact. According to him generative AI (including large language models like chatGPT) and social media might restrain our efforts to tackle climate change.
Some researchers consider AI, social media, and other technologies are either neutral or could be beneficial for addressing climate change.
Talking about this, Dr. van der Ven, assistant professor of sustainable business management of natural resources, shared, “Most analysis that we’ve seen to date focuses on counting the direct emissions associated with the life cycle of tech products.”
Reasons Against AI
According to Dr. Hamish, The environmental impact of internet infrastructure including server and bitcoin mining is evident. There are little to nil examination of what and how much social media and generative AI affect the climate. As per his approach, following possible things are happening due to social media and AI.
- Researchers believe that these technologies can divert our attention from important global issues.
- On a large scale, it affects human behavior and societal dynamics. This in turn is influencing their responses and efforts to climate change.
- Social media offers new and ever-changing content. This is shifting our attention from slower-moving issues, like efforts made towards saving our planet.
- This in turn is preventing them from taking collective action on climate change.
- People are feeling hopelessness as they are constantly exposed to negative news on social media.
- This is also influencing their problem-solving abilities.
3 Most common Challenges Faced by AI
- Machine learning is not being used in the right direction.
- With increasing AI usage there are higher demands for computing power. This in turn raises concerns about AI’s carbon footprint.
- There is a challenge of accuracy particularly concerning public safety and infrastructure.
Reasons in Favor of AI
MIT Technology Review hosted this year’s ClimateTech conference where Priya Donti, an MIT professor and the co-founder and executive director of Climate Change AI, said that every AI application does not require immense amounts of energy.
“There are a lot of models that can run on a laptop,” she further added. According to her, AI has vast potential to speed up the process for finding solutions to climate crisis.
She backed her argument in favor of AI by taking consideration from a 2022 paper that she co-authored, Tackling Climate Change With Machine Learning. She highlighted the following ways AI is helping policymakers and scientists to think through and effectively address climate change challenges.
1. Managing Data – AI helps in gathering and analyzing huge amounts of data that is beyond human capacity. For example, satellite imagery can be used to cater agricultural issues to improve crop qualities and increase carbon capture ability of forest.
2. Forecasting – AI can be used for various forecasts and predictions. For example, a Open Climate Fix non-profit organization uses a combination of satellite images of cloud cover and historical data for deriving estimates.
This helps in estimating near term solar power production with electricity demand. It can also help in determining the need for transportation in extreme weather conditions.
3. Improving System Efficiency – Various systems like freight transportation, heating-cooling in buildings, and food refrigeration are accurately optimized by AI. “This serves as a better predictive maintenance,” says Prof. Donti.
For example, it can detect and patch methane leaks in natural gas infrastructure before it worsens. Thus, it prevents methane from leaking into the atmosphere.
4. Next-Gen Technologies – AI can also serve as a scientific assistant. Researchers are working on manufacturing better batteries by studying outcomes from past experiments.
Scientists at SALK developed carbon capturing plants with AI to fight climate change.
AI and Social Media May Worsen the Climate Crisis: Possible Solutions
According to Dr. Hamish possible solutions could be:
- We need a fact-based analysis for in-depth understanding of the true impact of internet on climate.
- We need to be more skeptical towards businesses and individuals who promote digitalization as a possible solution to the climate crisis.
- Researchers are requested to shift some focus towards indirect impacts of internet-enabled technologies.
Content or information shared on social media and/or generated through AI is not always authentic or true. In return, this is like deceiving people and keeping them away from the true and urgent matters. Which is why researchers are considering the fact that AI and social media may worsen the climate crisis.
