Artificial intelligence (AI) is presented as a solution to the greatest challenges of our time, from global pandemics and chronic diseases to cybersecurity threats and the climate crisis. But AI also contributes to the climate crisis by running on technology that depletes scarce resources and by relying on data centres that demand excessive energy use.
Is AI Good for the Planet? brings the climate crisis to the centre of debates around AI, exposing its environmental costs and forcing us to reconsider our understanding of the technology. It reveals why we should no longer ignore the environmental problems generated by AI. Embracing a green agenda for AI that puts the climate crisis at centre stage is our urgent priority.
Engaging and passionately written, Is AI Good for the Planet? is essential reading for scholars and students of AI, environmental studies, politics, and media studies and for anyone interested in the connections between technology and the environment.
Chapter One. Defining AI: beyond the Hype
Chapter Two. Controlling AI: understanding data capitalism
Chapter Three. Why AI worsens the Climate Crisis
Conclusion. AI and the Climate Crisis: what we can do about it
Benedetta Brevini is a journalist and Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney.