The environmental impact of Automation

“Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have been very vocal about their efforts to reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. But as The Wall Street Journal and Gizmodo have reported, these same companies are currently teaming up with fossil fuel industry to help them squeeze as much oil and gas out of the ground as possible.” — VOX.

This excerpt appeared in a video by VOX, which I recently watched. While the content revolves about how AI is aiding the profit-making of the oil & gas industry, there were a few useful insights at the intersection of technology and environment.

Captured here are a few screen grabs, condensing down data from the video:

1. Energy Use : Fig 1 shows Google’s Data Center energy use. Comparative energy use is growing, so is the strive to match the energy use by renewable sources. (Fig 1)

Fig. 1 Energy Use

2. Energy efficiency through AI Supervision & Training Data : The large-data-centers train various machines in their facility. A high efficiency rate is observed while models are running without human supervision. Increase in training models shift to unsupervised learning, increases the efficient energy use of managing & processing data.

Fig 2. Energy Efficiency

Fig 3. Data Training v/s Efficiency Graph

3. Global Energy Use : Global Energy Consumption is increasing and will increase exponentially in the coming decades. If we think that shifting to Drawing & Writing on Screens will help save the environment, that isn’t necessary. The large data-centers which manage our information on cloud use some energy from some place. We just shift our load on trees to some other resource.

Fig 4. Total global energy consumption curve

I worked at a data analytics Multi-National Corporation recently & observing the mammoth amount of energy supply needed to store and transact data was eye-opening. The digital transformation happening across the globe calls for a unique opportunity to measure the impact of this ‘intangible material’ and work towards optimizing it. The spirit of Kaizen can trigger dramatic breakthroughs.

Another example I came across recently is a blog on Sustainable Web-Design by James Christie (a senior experience designer at MadPow). He talks about the intricacies of web-design and its impact on the environment. The best part about reading the blog is his on-ground experience with Web-Carbon footprint numbers, calculative impact on our ecology and Internet as a Climate Hero.

Sustainable Web Design

CONCLUSION :

1. The information and numbers provided are not full proof. This blog is built upon the video by VOX.
2. Technology / machines don’t possess a persona. We have a choice to choose where it’d be applied and the connotation is for the users and their intentions of the application of this tool.
3. Let’s start the conversation and debust myths about ‘Intangible Materials and Environmental Impact’. Let’s work towards optimizing it — afterall, the spirit of Kaizen can trigger dramatic breakthroughs.

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