Machine Ethics Podcast episodes 100. DeepDive: AI and the Environment
May 20, 2025
In this deep dive, guests Hannah Smith, Director of Operations for the Green Web Foundation, and Boris Gamazachikov, Head of AI Sustainability at Salesforce, discuss the environmental impacts of AI, including energy consumption and water usage. Will Alpine, Co-founder of Enabled Emissions Campaign, advocates for aligning tech with climate science, while Mel Hogan, Associate Professor at Queen's University, critiques the socio-political implications of AI. Together, they explore pressing issues like the transparency of AI's energy usage and the necessity for urgent policy changes.
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AI Challenges Renewable Growth
- AI significantly raises energy demand beyond renewable growth rates, risking continued fossil fuel reliance.
- We face a challenge in replacing fossil fuels as AI’s growth surpasses renewable adoption.
AI’s Hidden Environmental Costs
- AI’s environmental impact includes energy, material manufacturing, and water usage, often overlooked.
- Data centers also intensify water stress by cooling demands, conflicting with local needs amid climate change.
AI Carbon Emissions Breakdown
- Embodied carbon from manufacturing AI hardware is substantial but overshadowed by operational energy use.
- The ongoing compute for training and inference drives most carbon emissions in AI.