Page 44 - The Insurance Times August 2024

FEATURE

Why AI's present and future bring some

serious environmental concerns

I n its annual environment report released earlier this In Ireland, which has a disproportionately large number of
data centres because of the tax breaks and incentives it
month, Google reported a 13% increase in its
offers, this share has reached 18%, IEA numbers show. In
emissions footprint in 2023 compared with the
previous year. The rise was attributed mainly to the
data centres, this number was estimated to be between
increased electricity consumption in its data centres the United States, the country with the largest number of
and supply chains. Google said its data centres consumed 1.3% and 4.5%. The numbers for India were not available.
17% more electricity in 2023, and added that this trend was
expected to continue in the coming years because of greater Scenario for India
Saurabh Rai, CEO of Arahas Technologies, which works in
deployment and usage of its artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
the sustainability space, said the situation in India, at least
Power guzzling intelligence in the next few years, was not likely to change much, and
AI, which is expected to enable transformative changes the huge environmental toll of AI and data centres would
across several domains, including attempts to find solutions become evident very soon.
to climate change, has a very heavy emissions footprint, the "It is not just about electricity consumption. There is an
scale of which is becoming evident only now.
increased demand on water resources as well, required for
Studies have shown that a simple AI query, like the ones cooling of data centres. There is inadequate data on water
posted to Openai's chatbot CHATGPT, could be using between consumption of data centres but the centre that serves
10 and 33 times more energy than a regular Google search. Openai's GPT- 4 model in Iowa (US) is reported to have consumed
Image- based AI searches could be using even more energy. 6% of the district's water supply in July 2022," Rai said.
Why emissions are higher Rai said these had implications for India, where the
AI models typically work much more than a simple Google deployment of AI and data centres is expected to increase
search even when the same question is addressed to both. rapidly in the coming years.
They sift through much more data while processing and "AI is revolutionary technology, and we will see it being used
formulating appropriate responses. More work means a widely in India. But the emerging trends about its environmental
greater number of electrical signals are required when the impact means that we should plan its expansion in a manner
computer is processing, storing, or retrieving data. that minimises the adverse impacts. Simultaneously, we need to
More work also generates and releases more heat, which make sure that the companies running these data centres take
then requires more powerful air- conditioning or other forms every measure to make their processes efficient and minimise
of cooling in the data centres. the emissions footprint," he said.

A worrying prognosis Alternative view
As AI tools are deployed more widely, their impact on energy Other estimates suggest that the large scale deployment
consumption worldwide is expected to rise sharply. Already, of AI could help in significant reductions of emissions globally.
data centres account for between 1% and 1.3% of the global A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group found that
electricity demand. This could double (become between 1.5% application of AI to corporate and industrial practices could
and 3%) by 2026, according to recent projections of the result in a 5-10% reduction in global emissions by 2030, while
International Energy Agency (IEA). By contrast, despite the generating a value worth $ 1.3 trillion to $ 2.6 trillion through
large number of electric vehicles on the road, their share of additional revenues or cost savings.
global electricity consumption was just about 0.5%, the IEA said. Emissions reductions can happen if AI is deployed to monitor
At the level of countries, the electricity consumption of data and predict emissions in existing processes, and optimise these
centres as a share of the national demand has already to eliminate wastage or inefficiencies. (Source: The Indian
crossed double digits in several regions. Express)

40 August 2024 The Insurance Times