FAQ

How (not) to communicate about the environmental implications and impacts of AI technologies

Data publikacji: 18.12.2024

Media Biznes Kultura, 2024, Numer 2 (17) 2024, s. 45 - 57

https://doi.org/10.4467/25442554.MBK.24.017.20891

Autorzy

,
Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
, Litwa
University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9455-7384 Orcid
Wszystkie publikacje autora →
Robert Radziej
University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7367-6736 Orcid
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

Tytuły

How (not) to communicate about the environmental implications and impacts of AI technologies

Abstrakt

This article reviews environmentally-oriented publications from 2022-2024 related to the rise of AI technologies in order to discuss the burden AI is considered to exert on the climate and energy resources. Given the scarcity of texts that discuss it, the topic could be seen as an example of agenda cutting or discursive silencing at play. Such a review helps to determine how the recommendations by environmental experts are being accommodated to the needs of different publics and policy-makers, based on the interdisciplinary research that maps the ways to use AI responsibly and sustainably and regulate the industry to keep its environmental impact in check. Finally, it lists examples of the ways in which AI technologies can help in the mitigation, adaptation and protection from climate changes and energy crises. The findings demonstrate that while there are some promising uses of AI to diminish the environmental burden and to help in climate change adaptation, the problem of AI energy demands and emissions is far from solved, and environmental communicators should take this issue up.

Bibliografia

Pobierz bibliografię

Beckett C., Yaseen M., Generating change: A global survey of what news organizations are doing with AI, https://www.journalismai.info/research/2023-generating-change (accessed on: 15.05.2024).

Buchmeier Y., Towards a conceptualization and operationalization of agenda-cutting: A research agenda for a neglected media phenomenon, “Journalism Studies” 2020, No. 21(14), pp. 2007–2024.

Camacho F., Waldman S., and News E., Climate misinformation is rampant. AI may be able to stop it, “Scientific American” 2022, June 8, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-ai-stop-climate-misinformation/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Coleman J., AI’s climate impact goes beyond its emissions, “Scientific American” 2023, Dec. 7, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ais-climate-impact-goes-beyond-its-emissions/ (accessed on: 15.09.2024).

Depoe S., Environmental communication as nexus, “Environmental Communication” 2007, No. 1, pp. 1–4.

Dimock W., What AI can do for climate change, and what climate change can do for AI, “Scientific American” 2022, April 5, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-ai-can-do-for-climate-change-and-what-climate-change-can-do-for-ai/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Erdenesanaa D., AI could soon need as much electricity as an entire country, “New York Times” 2023, Oct. 10, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/climate/ai-could-soon-need-as-much-electricity-as-an-entire-country.html (accessed on: 15.09.2024).

Fahnestock J., Accommodating science: The rhetorical life of scientific facts [in:] The Literature of Science, ed. M.W. McRae, University of Georgia Press, Athens 1993.

Fry S., How to use AI as a force for good. CogX Festival in London, 2023, Sept. 14, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZfS8uk70Zc (accessed on: 11.06.2024).

Hansen A., Communication, media and environment: Towards reconnecting research on the production, content and social implications of environmental communication, “International Communication Gazette” 2011, No. 73(1–2), pp. 7–25.

Hsu J., Artificial intelligence training is powered mostly by fossil fuels, “New Scientist” 2023, Feb. 28, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2361343-artificial-intelligence-training-is-powered-mostly-by-fossil-fuels/ (accessed on: 12.06.2024).

Hsu J., Shifting where data is processed for AI can reduce environmental harm, “New Scientist” 2023, July 13, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2381859-shifting-where-data-is-processed-for-ai-can-reduce-environmental-harm/ (accessed on: 11.09.2024).

International Energy Agency, Data centres and data transmission networks, https://www.iea.org/energy-system/buildings/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Lu D., Creating an AI can be five times worse for the planet than a car, “New Scientist” 2019, June 6, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2205779-creating-an-ai-can-be-five-times-worse-for-the-planet-than-a-car/ (accessed on: 24.03.2024).

Molek-Kozakowska K., Communicating environmental science beyond academia: Stylistic patterns of newsworthiness in popular science journalism, “Discourse & Communication” 2017, No. 11(1), pp. 69–88.

Molek-Kozakowska K., Popularity-driven science journalism and climate change: A critical discourse analysis of the unsaid, “Discourse, Context & Media” 2018, No. 21, pp. 73–81.

Molek-Kozakowska K., Story-ing AI – mini-narrative patterns of contemporary online science journalism, “Discourse & Communication” 2024, No. 19(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813241266903.

Molek-Kozakowska K., The hybrid discourse of the ‘European Green Deal’: Road-mapping economic transition to environmental sustainability (almost) seamlessly, “Critical Discourse Studies” 2023, No. 21(2), pp. 182–199.

Mortillaro N., AI is increasingly being used to deal with climate change, but it has its own emissions problem, CBC 2024, Jan. 27, https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/ai-climate-change-emissions-1.7094616 (accessed on: 25.03.2024).

Naughton J., Why AI is a disaster for the climate, “The Guardian” 2023, Dec. 23, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/23/ai-chat-gpt-environmental-impact-energy-carbon-intensive-technology (accessed on: 25.03.2024).

New York Times, California climate disclosure law, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/17/climate/california-climate-disclosure-law.html (accessed on: 22.06.2024).

Nilsson N.J., The quest for artificial intelligence: A history of ideas and achievements 19332009, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge NY 2010.

O’Donnell J., A new satellite will use Google’s AI to map methane leaks from space, “MIT Technology Review” 2024, Feb. 14, https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/02/14/1088198/satellite-google-ai-map-methane-leaks/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Patterson D., Gonzalez J., Le Q., Liang C., Munguia L.M., Rothchild D., So D., Texier M., Dean J., Carbon emissions and large neural network training, arXiv, “Computer Science” 2021, https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.10350 (accessed on: 25.03.2024).

Radziej R., (Un)safe visions of the future: A multimodal discourse analysis of mediated science communication on artificial intelligence. Presentation at DiscourseNet Winter School 8: Discourse studies and power from the margins at University of Valencia, 16–19.01.2024.

Rutkin A., Pic-scanning AI estimates city air pollution from mass of photos, “New Scientist” 2016, Feb. 5, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2076562-pic-scanning-ai-estimates-city-air-pollution-from-mass-of-photos/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Saenko K., A computer scientist breaks down generative AI’s hefty carbon footprint, “Scientific American” 2023, May 25, reprint from “The Conversation US”.

Salvador V., The social debate on energy sources and climate change representations, argumentation and the emotional dimension [in:] Discursive Approaches to Sociopolitical Polarization and Conflict, eds. L. Filardo-Llamas, E. Morales-López, A. Floyd, Routledge, London 2021.

Schewing E., As arctic sea ice breaks up, AI is starting to predict where the ice will go, “Scientific American” 2023, Oct. 16, https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/as-arctic-sea-ice-breaks-up-ai-is-starting-to-predict-where-the-ice-will-go/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Schinckus C., The good, the bad and the ugly: An overview of the sustainability of blockchain technology, “Energy Research & Social Science” 2020, No. 69, pp. 101614, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101614.

Schwartz J., How can AI help to prepare for floods in a climate-changed world?, “Scientific American” 2018, Sept. 13, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/former-fema-chief-uses-ai-to-prepare-for-hurricanes-and-rising-seas/ (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Sparkes M., Analogue chips can slash the energy used to run AI models, “New Scientist” 2023, Aug. 23, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2388005-analogue-chips-can-slash-the-energy-used-to-run-ai-models/ (accessed on: 25.03.2024).

Strengers Y., Dahlgren K., Pink S., Sadowski J., Nicholls L., Digital technology and energy imaginaries of future home life: Comic-strip scenarios as a method to disrupt energy industry futures, “Energy Research & Social Science” 2022, No. 84, pp. 102366, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102366.

de Vries A., The growing energy footprint of artificial intelligence, “Joule” 2023, No. 7(10), pp. 2191–2194.

You X., AI analysed 1,500 policies to cut emissions. These ones worked, “Nature” 2024, Aug. 23, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02717-7 (accessed on: 16.09.2024).

Informacje

Informacje: Media Biznes Kultura, 2024, Numer 2 (17) 2024, s. 45 - 57

Typ artykułu: Oryginalny artykuł naukowy

Tytuły:

Angielski: How (not) to communicate about the environmental implications and impacts of AI technologies
Polski: Jak komunikować kwestie wpływu technologii sztucznej inteligencji na środowisko

Autorzy

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9455-7384

Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
, Litwa
University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9455-7384 Orcid
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Litwa

University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7367-6736

Robert Radziej
University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7367-6736 Orcid
Wszystkie publikacje autora →

University of Opole
pl. Kopernika 11a, 45-040 Opole, Polska

Publikacja: 18.12.2024

Status artykułu: Otwarte __T_UNLOCK

Licencja: CC BY  ikona licencji

Udział procentowy autorów:

Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska (Autor) - 50%
Robert Radziej (Autor) - 50%

Korekty artykułu:

-

Języki publikacji:

Angielski