AI can be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change, but it needs to be deployed wisely to avoid having unintended consequences. Priya Donti, cofounder and executive director of the nonprofit Climate Change AI, studies how power grids can better incorporate renewable energy with the help of AI, since it is hard to envision a successful decarbonized power grid without the use of the technology.
AI has been used successfully in many sustainability initiatives, such as helping to stop poaching and illegal logging, speeding up disaster response, and aiding textile recycling. There is even an app called Kuzi that uses AI to predict locust outbreaks in Africa. However, there have also been less successful examples like when AI has been utilized to help oil and gas companies extract more petroleum, an action that has been highly criticized.
For AI to be truly effectual in the fight against climate change, it should be used to free up resources for tackling bigger problems that AI cannot solve. For instance, AI can be used to automate some processes in the power system but humans should still be making the big decisions. And it is important to ensure that AI is available to those most affected by climate change, and that its use is not just helping those who are already powerful to further consolidate their influence.
Phil De Luna, a former director of the National Research Council of Canada and author of a book about AI’s use in accelerating scientific discoveries, believes AI can play a decisive role in helping to create clean technologies within the next 30 years. He also emphasizes the importance of being mindful of any technological barriers that AI could create when deployed and of preventing the use of AI for creating “moats and technology barriers” that only a subset of people can benefit from.
The White House has recently issued a request for information on how AI can help with the nation’s target of halving greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030, signaling the urgency of the matter. Ultimately, it is up to us to use AI responsibly to ensure its potential is harnessed for the benefit of all.
