AI Is Bad for The Environment – But Can It Also Save It?
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Advanced AI tools and systems are beginning to be heavily criticized for the immense amounts of energy they use, but experts claim these tools could also contribute to our response to climate change.
In order to deal with climate change, it must be broken down into smaller problems to be addressed, instead of trying to solve large overarching problems all at once. These smaller issues include identifying sources of emissions, enhancing the production and use of renewable energy and predicting calamities like floods and fires.
Following are four different areas in which AI technology is being used to confront the climate crisis, as provided by AI and machine learning expert Lakshmi Babu Saheer:
- Electricity
Accurately forecasting energy supply and demand could help reduce energy-related emissions. AI can learn the patterns of how and when people use energy, as well as forecast how much energy will be generated from sources like wind and solar (depending on the weather) and help maximize clean energy usage.
For example, Iranian researchers used AI to predict the energy consumption of a research center by considering its occupancy, structure, materials, and the local weather. They used algorithms to reduce the building’s energy use by 35%, matching the insulation, heating, lighting, and power to the number of people present.
- Transport
Since a fifth of the world’s CO₂ emissions come from transport, AI models can be used to minimize people’s travel emissions by recommending “greener routes” – suggesting the most efficient routes with fewer hills, less traffic, and constant speeds.
- Agriculture
It has been proven that better farming practices can reduce emissions, and so AI can be used to ensure that space and fertilizers are used sparingly. I can also predict how much of a crop people will buy in a particular market, thus helping producers and distributors minimize waste.
- Disaster management
AI has made the biggest contribution to the field of disaster prediction and management. Models can study drone images to predict flood damage, detect the onset of a flood, and help with real-time rescue operation planning.
This information was provided by Techxplore.
