Environmental groups embrace AI, even as they warn of data center impacts
Environmental organizations are using AI for conservation work while acknowledging that the data centers supporting the technology consume significant electricity and water and generate greenhouse-gas emissions. The article examines efforts by conservation groups to reduce those impacts and highlights growing global concern over data center expansion.
Environmental and conservation organizations are increasingly using artificial intelligence to analyze climate data, monitor wildfires, survey wildlife and process scientific records. Conservation International, the Jane Goodall Institute, the World Resources Institute and other groups said AI is helping them perform work that would otherwise be slower or more expensive, although they recognize the technology’s environmental costs.
The article cites estimates from the International Energy Agency and the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health that data center electricity use, water consumption and overall environmental footprint could rise sharply by 2030. Greenpeace International is questioning whether the construction of massive new data centers is necessary, while other organizations are pursuing measures such as limiting resource-intensive applications, processing data locally and using lower-carbon energy.