The environmental impact
The environmental impact of AI is manifold – not only that deep learning exacerbates energy use by training the models but also its impact on oil and gas discovery. In their study, researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst47 estimated that training a large deep learning model produces 626,000 pounds of planet-warming carbon dioxide, equal to the lifetime emissions of 5 cars48.
As we consider the negative impacts of AI on climate, particularly in relation to GPU usage for LLMs and electricity consumption, we recognize that the extensive energy required for training deep learning models contributes to a significant carbon footprint. Additionally, inefficiencies in hardware and algorithms, coupled with the increasing demand for AI applications, exacerbate the environmental impact due to the growing reliance on energy-consuming data centers. Rapid advancements in AI-driven technologies lead to a rise in electronic waste, causing environmental...
