Is artificial intelligence destroying the climate? | Green Left Show #84

About this episode

The episode discusses the environmental impacts of data centres driven by artificial intelligence growth and community responses to these challenges.

There has been a massive investment in data centres to power rapid artificial intelligence growth around the world, but at what cost? On this episode of the Green Left Show we discuss the energy and water impacts of data centres, community opposition, and whether AI is a bubble ready to pop, or here to stay. Isaac Nellist is joined by Ketan Joshi, a climate and energy analyst based in Oslo, Norway; NSW Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, who is chairing the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into data centres; and Sanaa Shah, from the Sweltering Cities campaign group, which is looking into the impact of data centres on communities in Western Sydney. 0:00 Intro1:42 Impact of renewable energy transition12:47 Water consumption 22:22 Data centres in NSW24:09 Largest data centre in the Southern Hemisphere 27:22 Impacts on the community 29:47 Other concerns 31:11 Are communities fighting back?32:25 NSW Parliamentary inquiry into data centres 36:11 Pressure on governments38:51 Is sustainable AI possible 45:11 Will the AI bubble pop? 52:05 Outro We acknowledge that this was produced on stolen Aboriginal land. We express solidarity with ongoing struggles for justice for First Nations people and pay our…

People in this episode

Host: Isaac Nellist

Guests: Ketan Joshi, Abigail Boyd, Sanaa Shah

Topics covered

• artificial intelligence
• climate change
• data centres
• energy consumption
• community impact
• sustainability

Keywords

• data centres
• artificial intelligence
• climate impact
• energy consumption
• water usage
• community opposition
• NSW inquiry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NSW Greens, Sweltering Cities

Places: Oslo, Norway, Western Sydney, NSW

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