"Some AI advocates claim that bots hold the secret to mitigating climate change. But research shows that the reality is far different, as new datacenters cause power utilities to burn even more fossil fuels to meet their insatiable demand for energy. It has been a common refrain of late that, as the tech industry's single-minded focus hones in on AI, abandoning climate pledges in the process and embracing quick-to-build fossil fuel power plants to drive its datacenters, the AI being spun up in new mega facilities would simply solve the problem for them."
"Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has pushed that line of reasoning, as has Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, both arguing that AI's long-term climate benefits could outweigh, or help offset, the emissions associated with the growing power demands of datacenters. Others, including the International Energy Agency, claim to have support for the same. With funding from climate action groups, energy analyst Ketan Joshi, however, is suggesting that AI firms and research from groups that support their plans, like the IEA, aren't just wrong, but may be intentionally greenwashing the problem."
"Joshi's report was published this week and funded by groups including Beyond Fossil Fuels, Climate Action Against Disinformation, and Friends of the Earth U.S. He reached two central conclusions after looking at 154 claims of AI climate benefits arising from eight sources (including the IEA, climate researchers, Microsoft, Google, and others). First off, there's a serious problem with the conflation of traditional AI, like predictive models and computer vision, with generative AI tools that chat, create images, and make music."
New datacenters' rising electricity demand is causing power utilities to burn additional fossil fuels to meet immediate capacity needs. Some technology leaders and institutions argue that AI's long-term benefits could offset datacenter emissions. A review of 154 claims across eight sources found that most AI climate-benefit claims concern traditional AI such as predictive models and computer vision, not generative AI. Only a handful of claims referenced generative AI benefits. The review concluded that AI firms and supportive organizations may be overstating climate benefits while datacenter expansion drives increased fossil-fuel generation, undermining climate pledges.
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