Recently, I wrote about AI, emissions and the ethical conundrums that plague me while using AI as part of my ongoing research-creation work which aims to explore the marriage between technology and humans. I mentioned the enormous carbon footprint training models, which could be outweighed by AI’s ability to provide alternative energy, health, architectural, urban planning solutions, and more. For instance, will the technology help us invent a way to maintain the vast servers which support our modern information economy at room temperatures more quickly than they otherwise might have done? There are many articles in science and technology magazines suggesting this is likely.
And here is some research that argues that while the carbon footprint of training a model is high, the amount of time it takes to create any output, such as an image or page of text, results in a substantially lower carbon footprint. The authors admit, images and text do not materialise in a vacuum. We have to assume there will be a host of related carbon guzzling activities taking place at the same time. But the paper introduces another layer of complexity in the discussion which is worth considering. Not least of which is the fact that human tasks being replaced by AI is potentially fraught with difficulties.
Nevertheless, the paper is worth reading, as it usefully weighs up the inescapable costs and benefits.
While the environmental footprint of AI may be lower than that of humans for certain tasks, there are other important factors that may influence AI’s overall impact on the world. For example, as AI technology becomes more advanced, it is likely that such technologies will displace human workers in certain industries. And, if the past is any indicator, professional displacement may lead to job losses and reduced income. The displacement of jobs by technology has been amply studied, e.g., (21), as has displacement by AI in particular (22). Job displacement is deeply problematic not only to those displaced, but to society at large, as it can disrupt the economic and social stability of entire geographic regions. On the other hand, the development of AI has the potential to create jobs as well.
These jobs could be meaningful and well-compensated replacements for those AI displaces, or they could be demeaning and/or involve low pay.
The Carbon Emissions of Writing and Illustrating Are Lower for AI than for Humans
Ref:
Tomlinson, B. et al. (2023) The carbon emissions of writing and illustrating are lower for AI than for humans, arXiv.org. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.06219 (Accessed: 20 September 2023).
Field. SJ. 2023, (Non) Interview with a LLM No 5 – AI and energy consumption. Available at https://sjffieldscribbles.uk/2023/08/31/non-interview-with-a-llm-no-5-ai-and-energy-consumption/. (Accessed 20th September)
Field, SJ. 2021 why is there an astronaut in a field of flowers/. Available at: https://www.sarahjanefield.com/flowers (Accessed 20 September 2023)