How AI threatens action on climate change
Artificial intelligence is trumpeted by many as a potential solution to climate breakdown.
There will of course be specific applications of AI that have positive environmental outcomes, but too little attention is being paid to two major risks concerning the rapid development of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT: one, the extent to which Gen AI pours rocket fuel on online misinformation, by making it quicker, easier and cheaper to produce misinformation at scale; and two, the enormous energy demands of this rapidly expanding tech.
We’ve co-authored a new report from the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition that maps the risks that AI poses to the climate crisis. This report shows that:
- AI systems require an enormous amount of energy and water, and consumption is expanding quickly. Estimates suggest a doubling in 5-10 years.
- Generative AI has the potential to turbocharge climate disinformation, including climate change-related deepfakes, ahead of a historic election year where climate policy will be central to the debate.
- The current AI policy landscape reveals a concerning lack of regulation in the US and the EU, relying on voluntary, opaque and unenforceable pledges to pause development or provide safety measures.
Download the report – The AI Threats to Climate Change
At Global Action Plan, we believe that today’s toxic online climate is severely inhibiting progressive climate policy. The existing systems (including but not limited to social media) are so profitable because they prioritise user ‘engagement’ and as a result tend towards conspiracy, outrage and lies. This is the very opposite of the nuanced, generous public and political debate we need in order to usher in the enormous changes climate breakdown demands.
We are seeing multiple examples of how easy it is for those who are opposed to climate action to harness these systems to their own ends, whether that’s artificially amplifying opposition to climate policy, spreading deepfakes of politicians, or promoting entirely fabricated ‘scientific’ reports questioning mainstream climate science. In a year when 2 billion people are heading to the polls, this represents an existential threat to climate action.
The report makes three priority recommendations for tech companies and regulators to adopt and implement, including:
- Transparency: Companies must publicly report on energy usage and emissions produced, assess any environmental justice concerns related to developing AI technology and disclose how their AI models produce information in a way that prioritises climate science.
- Safety: Companies must be able to publicly demonstrate their products are safe for users and the environment. In addition, governments should develop standards on AI safety reporting and invest in research that maps the risks AI poses to the spread of climate disinformation.
- Accountability: Governments should enforce rules on investigating and mitigating the climate impacts of AI with clear, strong penalties for noncompliance. Companies and their executives must be held accountable for any harms that occur as a result of their products.