How AI can help and hurt the environment

Source: Route50 | By Chris Teale, Staff Reporter

JUNE 25, 2024

Artificial intelligence could put a greater strain on electricity, water and other resources already under pressure from data centers. But the technology also presents opportunities to address environmental challenges.

Information technology’s global use of energy has stayed at around 1% for several years, a surprising statistic given how important the sector and its use of data centers has become.

But that may change in the coming years as companies and governments start to rely more on artificial intelligence, which could consume even more energy and resources with its higher computing power.

So while the data centers needed to support AI technology present a tremendous economic development opportunity for state and local governments, its energy-intensive nature may put an even greater strain on them than they are already experiencing. That reality may demand a more measured approach from state and local leaders looking to take advantage of the technology and meet their climate goals.

According to some estimates, increased AI use could double data center electricity demand by 2026. The amount of water needed to cool data centers could also spike, affecting water supplies. Meanwhile, electronic waste could grow as the chips needed to run AI software are created and then discarded once they’re used up.

“We're trying to be diligent; we're trying to be thoughtful,” said Boston Chief Information Officer Santiago Garces during the recent Route Fifty Innovation Spotlight on leadership in AI. “The use of these tools is expensive. These tools can be expensive from an environmental standpoint as well. They require a lot of energy. Energy requires cooling, which means they also require water.”

But the true impacts will be unknown for a while. In an interview, Benjamin C. Lee, professor of electrical and systems engineering and computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania, noted that tech companies have so far achieved “economies of scale” with their data centers, maintaining energy efficiency and keeping costs down.

“Generative AI models, like ChatGPT, are going to be much more computationally expensive than traditional data center jobs,” he said. “For instance, if a Google web search consumes some amount of energy, asking ChatGPT to give you an answer might consume 7 to 10 times more energy. If everyone starts using GPT like they use the search engine, we will see a big increase in energy costs.”

Despite those environmental challenges, some leaders see a potential upsidet. Katy Ruckle, Washington’s chief privacy officer, said during the Route Fifty event that the technology has…