AI causes devastated harm to global environment
Ren and Wierman’24 [Shaolei and Adam, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, where I am also a cooperating faculty member in the Computer Science and Engineering department. B.S., Carnegie Mellon University, 2001; M.S., 2004; Ph.D., 2007. Assistant Professor, Caltech, 2007-12; Professor, 2012-24; Braun Professor, 2024-; Executive Officer, 2015-20; Associate Director, Information Science and Technology, 2015-16; Director, Information Science and Technology, 2016-. Harvard Business Review, “The Uneven Distribution of AI’s Environmental Impacts”. July 15, 2024. https://hbr.org/2024/07/the-uneven-distribution-of-ais-environmental-impacts.]
AI model training can lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of fresh water into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on our already limited freshwater resources. All these environmental impacts are expected to escalate considerably, with the global AI energy demand projected to exponentially increase to at least 10 times the current level and exceed the annual electricity consumption of a small country like Belgium by 2026. In the United States, the rapidly growing AI demand is poised to drive data center energy consumption to about 6% of the nation’s total electricity usage in 2026, adding further pressure on grid infrastructures and highlighting the urgent need for sustainable solutions to support continued AI advancement. The generation of electricity, particularly through fossil fuel combustion, results in local air pollution, thermal pollution in water bodies, and the production of solid wastes, including even hazardous materials. Elevated carbon emissions in a region come with localized social costs, potentially leading to higher levels of ozone, particulate matter, and premature mortality. Furthermore, the strain on local freshwater resources imposed by the substantial water consumption associated with AI, both directly for onsite server cooling and indirectly for offsite electricity generation, can worsen prolonged droughts in water-stressed regions like Arizona and Chile.