AI and Sustainability
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is omnipresent. Not a day goes by without AI being in the news, whether it’s the success story of a new public health initiative or optimisation of energy grids, deep concerns about dataveillance and digital inequalities, or the exploitation of critical minerals and the people who harvest them. Indeed, in September 2024, the UN’s AI Advisory Body published their most recent report about the need for global governance, setting out some guiding principles and functions for international governance of AI.
But what might AI mean for Sustainability? In addition to concerns such as the huge environmental costs of AI (demands for energy, cooling water, rare earth materials), in which ways might AI perpetuate existing social injustice? Equally, and despite the costs, in which ways may AI help us generate more sustainable practices, for instance in resource management and scientific breakthroughs? These questions were some of the many explored in a recent Panel discussion on ‘AI and Sustainability’, part of StACCS’ contribution to the University’s inaugural Sustainability Week.
Chaired by StACCS Co-Director Dr Louise Reid, panellists spanned different Schools across St Andrews, including Prof. Simon Dobson (Computing Science), Dr Tristan Henderson (Computing Science), Dr Ioana Colfescu (Earth & Environmental Sciences, Maths, and National Centre for Atmospheric Science) in addition to Calum McDonald (Scottish AI Alliance). Topics for discussion included the ways in which AI may be harnessed for sustainability, the sustainability of AI, what role Universities may have in this area, and what the prospects for the future look like.
Recurring themes throughout the discussion surrounded issues of ethics, equity and risk. Specifically, that the potential benefits of AI for sustainability may be undermined by the AI itself given its environmental footprint (interestingly, Simon related to developments such as the new collaboration between Microsoft and Three Mile Island – a commercial nuclear power plant). Moreover, there was recognition that because AI learns its patterns from the world as it is and has been, it will likely intensify current social and environmental injustices. This accords with much of what Dan MacQuillan, University of London has written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
A further area of consensus which emerged during the panel discussion was the need, in any discussion of AI, to distinguish between 1) ‘consumer’ generative AI where AI is doing what humans can do already (e.g., ChatGPT being a good example of this to, for instance summarising text, write music, customising code, making the process more efficient but perhaps not of higher quality) and, 2) where AI is being used to do things that humans cannot do (e.g., deal with mind-bogglingly large datasets that are beyond the ability of humans to compute – such as those used in climate change models). Indeed, examples from Ioana, Simon and Calum revealed how, in the latter, AI may play an important role in our understandings of the world, allowing us to create transformational change.
Despite all the hyperbole, the future of AI, and its potential impacts is uncertain. Simon reminded us of ‘boom and bust cycles’ of emerging technologies, and the development of approaches such as low-power computing in response to AI, whilst Tristian explored aspects of regulation and legislation which may have a role in the future of AI. What was agreed, however, was that Universities have a clear role to play in the relationship between AI and Sustainability; firstly by educating future leaders, our students, giving them the opportunity to critically engage with these debates and question the legitimacy of AI; secondly, as large organisations, thinking about our own use of AI (in our operations, policies and procedures and those of our suppliers); and lastly, in our activities as researchers about how our scholarship feeds into such debates and understandings.
Thanks to the panel members for joining us, and to the audience for their thoughtful questions.
Photo L-R: Calum McDonald, Tristan Henderson, Ioana Colfescu, Simon Dobson, Louise Reid