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Is AI Good for the Planet?

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Is AI Good for the Planet?

Polity Press,

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Does AI do more harm to the planet than good?

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AI is set to take over the world, but is it actually good for the planet? Academician Benedetta Brevini argues that AI contributes significantly to the current climate crisis. The media hype AI as the solution to pervasive problems, including climate change, without providing a balanced assessment of the risks. AI needs material infrastructure, has a massive carbon footprint, and produces e-waste that disproportionately damages marginalized communities. Brevini concludes by calling for more transparency and accountability from AI developers and from nations that oversee their operations.

Summary

The media hype AI as having the potential to change the world.

When describing AI’s potential to change the world, leaders such as Barack Obama use analogies to space exploration. In 2018, two reports from the National Science and Technology Council called for all sectors to invest in AI. According to the media, its extraordinary computing power promises to help people live better lives, solve social ills such as poverty and inequality, and empower communities.

The hype conceals capitalism’s “dramatic failures” that serve to reinforce the status quo. The majority of business executives believe they must invest in AI to expand their business. Major consulting firms insist that AI will enrich industries, particularly manufacturing and retail, by boosting productivity and reducing labor expenses – without mentioning the human cost. For example, the lack of resources in the poorest nations in South America and Africa means they cannot compete with the United States and China to build the infrastructure to expand AI globally. 

AI, a capital “mover,” puts the world’s financial resources in the hands of the few and powerful.

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About the Author

Benedetta Brevini is a lecturer in communication and media at the University of Sydney, Australia, and co-edited Beyond WikiLeaks: Implications for the Future of Communications, Journalism and Society.

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