There is certainly a lot of ominous news around what effect more widespread usage of AI is going to have on increasing emissions, via massive amounts of energy requirements as well as potentially vastly increased water usage. But are there any positive ways that AI can be used in the fight against climate change?
Katharine Hayhoe has identified some in a recent issue of her Talking Climate newsletter. AI is being used to help scientists have a better view into the frequency of storms. As Hayhoe describes, "ice storm records were created by looking at on-the-ground damage reports" so if damage wasn't reported these storms were ‘invisible’. This made estimating risk of ice-storms from a changing climate almost impossible without using AI which analyzes atmospheric data to identify storms.
AI has also been used to help plant seed pods in areas damaged by wildfires. TELUS, a Canadian telecommunications company is worked with Flash Forest on this initiative.
So yes, AI has definitely negative aspects when it comes to climate with its high energy use, but it also can be used for good to help address the impact of climate change.