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Good morning, and welcome to the Daily Ods. It's Monday, the tenth of February. I'm emma, and I'm a told. Artificial intelligence or AI has become increasingly ingrained in our lives in recent years, and we've seen this technology used for both good and for bad, from life changing medical discoveries to the rise of explicit deep fakes. But during the recent AI boom, we've heard a lot of conversations
around ethics and safety. As those conversations have become more intense, there is a lesser discussed concern that is now gaining attention, and that's all about the environmental impact of AI.
AI requires immense quantities of resources, and this includes electricity, water, and finite minerals. Now, with a growing amount of AI, it's carbon footprint is only expected to rise in coming decades. Today, we're going to explore that early Red Flag's environmental experts are raising and what they mean for the sustainability of AI.
Chol you have gone deep on this topic for us because I think we've seen a lot of headlines floating around lately about AI not being great for the environment. But it's a confusing space to start with. Let alone, before we get into the specifics of this, it does feel like a really new advancement. But I was surprised when you told me. AI is a term that was first coined in nineteen fifty five by an American computer scientist.
His name was John McCarthy. But these days, when we're talking about AI, I think most people are probably thinking of what's called generative AI. So that's like open AI's chat GPT, right, so those chatbot based systems which are built on large language models, and that means they use these vast databases of online text and images to generate
new content. Now that chat GPT has become so incredibly popular, though, people are turning to this discussion about its demands, So achold, what does it actually take to power generative AI like chat GPT?
Yeah, so popular might just be an understatement. So since launching in November twenty twenty two, chat gpt has amassed around three hundred million weekly active users worldwide. Wow, I know. So every time someone asks chat gpt to complete a task, it uses around two point nine what's per hour of energy? Now,
that's according to the International Energy Agency. To really put this into perspective, a recent study found that chat GPT consumes enough power annually to charge over three million electric cars or about fifty million iPhones.
Wow, I got to be honest with you, I didn't know what what's per hour energy really meant. So that definitely helps put it into perspective.
Yeah. Absolutely. Now, Chat GPT has dominated the AI space for the past three years that it's been running. However, this year we witnessed a new generative AI called deep Seek disrupt global financial markets and you probably saw headlines left, right and center earlier this year. Now, the Chinese model introduced itself as a cheaper, more energy efficient alternative to
its American competitors. Just like open AIS Chat GPT, deep Sea can summarize texts, answer questions, and generate writing based on prompts. Now, what's really fascinating about deep Seek is that it performs just as well as the leading American AI systems, but only for a fraction of the cost, and it claims it can use up to forty times less energy.
Yeah, this is a big claim from deep Seek, and I think we're all kind of waiting to hear a bit more about how it plans on achieving that or if it will really be able to offer the same service as a chat GPT. But when we think about the environmental impact of generative AI, it's not just about this massive strain on energy grids. There are other strains on resources right.
Exactly right. The resources needed to run, support and train generative AI a house in these facilities called data centers. Now, while the exact figures are still being debated, it's estimated that AI data centers account for up to one point five percent of global electricity usage. Now that might seem small, but it means that a single data center could consume enough energy to heat fifty thousand homes for a whole year. Okay, these facilities are expected to use as much power annually
as countries like Japan and Russia by next year. That's according to a recent study from mit SO. This raises concerns amongst experts who fear it could potentially put additional strain on electricity on global electricity grids, including countries like Australia where we are regularly experiencing blackouts.
Yeah, it's hard to imagine, I guess in places like Australia where there is that strain on grids and uncertainty about you know what the long term sustainability of those grids looks like. Then this huge extra strain, it sounds like a lot of work. So ATOL, you've got these massive facilities that you've talked us through that store this large infrastructure and machinery. So we've learned that, you know, AI puts a strain on electricity demands because of the
actual process of asking it questions. Then there's also the physical places where the computing lives. I can only imagine how hot those rooms could get. I mean think about like when you have a laptop, a small laptop on your lap, the fan is going into overdrive. It gets really hot on your lap. That's like a small laptop that generates that kind of a heat. I mean, if you've got this much machinery in these facilities, I'm sure it must get really warm.
Oh exactly. I mean, AI centers need advance cooling system so basically keep the technology from overheating. Traditionally, data centers rely on air cooling to manage rising temperatures caused by the heat emitted from the hardware. However, this isn't quite sufficient for AI technology. So what that means is modern data centers are using liquid cooling systems that rely on water to keep temperatures between the ideal terms of twenty one and twenty four degrees.
Okay, I'm trying to write my head around this concept because the idea of water and computers pretty much goes against everything we've ever been told.
Right exactly, But I wouldn't recommend throwing a glass of water at your laptop right now, okay noted, So researchers in the US predict that by twenty twenty seven, up to six point six billion cubic meters of water will be needed annually to meet global AI demands. That's equivalent to half of the UK's yearly water consumption. Okay, a
lot of water, a lot exactly. These statistics raise concerns for climate experts, who basically say, in a country like Australia who experiences droughts regularly, this would be detrimental.
With droughts. I mean, if we look at the climate science, its droughts are expected to intensify those kind of long periods without rain, and this water usage I can imagine for those climate experts. Kind of sounds an alarm exactly.
Now. Water consumption isn't the only environmental issue linked to data centers. The greenhouse gas emissions released from these facilities are also sounding the alarm in the fight against global warming. Exact figures on AI's contribution to global emissions still remain unclear. The International Energy Agency estimates that data centers account for zero point six percent of annual emissions, while Science and Technology Australia say this figure has already hit one percent.
So some kind of differences in the scale there, but anywhere between kind of half to one percent of emissions exactly now.
Recent reports warned that if AI adoption continues at the current pace that it's going, data centers could account for fourteen percent of yearly emissions by twenty forty. Wow.
Predictions like that, I mean, might just become a reality. If we look to the reports of rising emissions among tech giants using AI, they have been transparent about this, and I guess that's kind of why we've taken note and why we're talking about it today. What do we know from those tech giants about their emissions?
Yeah, So, in the case of Microsoft, in its latest Sustainability Report, it attributed a thirty percent increase in its carbon emissions since twenty twenty due to AI models and services that it provides.
Wow, so Microsoft is saying that it's emissions, like the whole of Microsoft, increased by thirty percent because of what it takes to run AI.
Exactly that. Now, despite this, we know that tech giants have no plans on scaling back their AI programs. So basically this means greater demand for infrastructure and resources, which brings us to mining. So lithium is one of the key materials used to produce the rechargeable batteries that powers AI technology, and Australia is one of the largest producers of the mineral.
We have heard a lot about lithium in recent years. Of course, it's something that goes in phones, computers, batteries of all kinds. And you're right, Australia is the world's largest lithium producer. But we might not be forever.
No, not exactly. So a twenty twenty study from a German university found that global lithium deposits could be depleted sometime within the next seventy five years. So with the rapid uptake of AI services. Some experts predict that lithium shortages could occur as soon as twenty forty now. Additionally, the amount of eWays generated through the frequent maintenance of AI equipment poses a significant challenge to Australia's waste and recycling systems.
Wow, there are so many aspects to the sustainability concerns here. We've heard about the power it takes to ask chat GPT a question, the electricity and water it takes for these computers to be stored, and then we've also got this e waste and the mining of lithium to think about. You're right that AI isn't going anywhere. We are only hearing more and more about its advancements and how we can live alongside AI or integrate it into our life,
into our work. But what are the experts saying about how we ensure that this technology doesn't set us back environmentally even while it might kind of bring us forward technologically.
Well, that's exactly what global leaders are trying to figure out with the help of these environmental and technological experts. So last year in Australia, the Federal Senate launched an inquiry into AI to explore both its opportunities and its impacts. So the inquiry held six public hearings and received submissions from two hundred and forty five experts, academics, business leaders and members of the public.
That's a lot of submissions. Were there any kind of common themes that came up.
Yeah, So the environmental impacts of AI was a major concern basically across all submissions and in its omissions. UNSWAI Institute noted that the impacts of AI are currently difficult to quantify due to few standards for its reporting.
Okay, so I think that's kind of been reflected in some of the numbers we've talked about today.
Exactly.
There's a bit of a range scope. There's not kind of a definitive regulatory body that says this is what AI is doing and these are the emissions that it's contributing and that kind of thing. So I guess that makes it difficult to get a real sense of what's going on. Right.
So, Science and Technology Australia, which is the peak body for Australia science and technology sector, called on governments to ensure that renewable energy policy and net zero investments play a key role in developing digital infrastructure to support AI use in Australia. Now, what's interesting is that recent innovations show that AI can actually help us tackle environmental challenges.
Interesting, I know.
So the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources showed that AI could help address some of the world's most pressing climate change issues. The Australian Human Rights Commission said that AI has the potential to positively impact the environment in several ways, including by improving energy efficiency and enhancing sustainable practices.
One of the interesting ones that the Federal government flagged I remember is how AI could be used for firefighting technologies. That they developed an AI technology that could detect small fires and predict fire behavior patterns, which is of course, you know, beneficial to the environment on the other side of this coin exactly.
But despite that, the Australian Human Rights Commission did warn AI pose a significant risk. Now, ultimate knowledge is power, so by increasing transparency around the potential environmental impacts of AI, the risk may be mitigated atoll.
Thank you so much for breaking that down for us. A very very big, complicated story, but you've made sense of it for us, So we thank you for joining us on the podcast today. And thank you for listening. If you like today's episode, if you learn something, feel free to pass it on to a friend. Don't forget to follow or subscribe wherever you listen to The Daily Os or if you're watching us over on our YouTube. We will be back a little bit later today with
the evening headlines. Until then, have a great day.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda Bunje lung Kalkotin woman from Gadigl Country. The Daily Os acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present