According to “Michael Khoo, climate disinformation program director at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth, and author of a recent report on artificial intelligence” individual users are not the internet’s biggest problem. Rather the blame should be placed on “a tech industry committed to the endless expansion of its offerings—particularly artificial intelligence—while shrugging off responsibility for the consequences.” So, should you feel guilty about the fact that you – and about “45 million other people” binge watched the latest season of Bridgerton over the past few weekends?
Unlike some other sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is much about the internet that is climate-positive. Khoo goes on to say “There are a ton of great things that happen on the internet, including research on climate change and communications between scientists.” Add in the ability to work remotely as well as predict natural disasters and extreme weather events that put human life at risk. It becomes obvious that the internet is something we want to use responsibly rather than eliminate completely.
Again, individual users are not causing that much damage, though of course in the aggregate our habits matter. The real culprits are “artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, which are largely responsible for the recent boom in emissions.” So what can we do – as a community we can push for systemic change in the tech industry including a requirement for their facilities to be powered by renewable energy, full transparency from each company as to the amount of energy they are using and where it is coming from and “more discernment about whether AI is actually needed by every industry.”
If you enjoyed this article, click here to join the Daily Difference, a newsletter to help everyone around the world in taking action and making a significant positive impact. It’s not too late. The earth needs passionate people like you to spread the word and create meaningful change.
