Image via Shutterstock/chayanuphol
Today, technology is constantly evolving and plays an increasingly important role in our daily lives. Many things that our society has done traditionally can now be done easily with the help of technology in this era. On the other hand, it is not only the human needs that are developing but also the technology that is rapidly expanding and attempting to fully meet those needs.
To be more specific, people nowadays rely heavily on artificial intelligence for a variety of purposes, including the entertainment industry, manufacturing, health care, and education. But have you noticed that our era's technological and AI revolutions may also have an impact on the sustainability of our environment?
Technology and AI also Leave The Carbon Footprint
Technology and AI development are also critical in addressing environmental issues. Although technology and artificial intelligence can greatly benefit our needs, we must not forget that they also pose environmental challenges in the form of the carbon footprint.
According to nature.org, A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions. In this case, Technology and AI also leave a heavy carbon footprint. Associated Press also stated that AI systems such as ChatGPT need approximately 500 milliliters of water for every 5-50 questions or tasks from the user. Those water needs are going to keep the engine system alive and prevent the system from overheating due to constant usage.
Another method mentioned in the news. Climate explains that AI data centers primarily use fossil fuels for energy, and the total number of data centers worldwide accounts for 2.5 to 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, this number exceeded the number that came from the aviation industry.
Then how can Technology and AI make the Environment greener?
Lots of big companies that run data centers try to take a more sustainable approach to energy and environmental costs. News.Climate shares a few things that can be done to make the environment sustainable:
Transparency
Companies need to know how much electricity they use. AI carbon footprint measurements should also be standardized so that developers can compare the effects of various systems and solutions.
Renewable Energy Sources
One of the big data centers, Microsoft, plans that all the providers that they use for all of the majors will run their cloud data centers on 100% carbon-free energy by 2030. Google’s data centers also already use 100% of their energy from renewable sources.
New Cooling methods
Traditional cooling methods, such as air conditioning, do not always keep data centers cool enough. So, Microsoft researchers are using a special fluid engineered to boil 90 degrees lower than water's boiling point to cool computer processors in order to make the environment more sustainable.
Sources: