This interdisciplinary workshop co-hosted by the Environmental Intelligence CDT & the Centre for Responsible Innovation, brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers, policymakers, technologists, business, and civil society actors to critically explore the sustainability challenges associated with artificial intelligence (AI), and to scope constructive responses.

While AI is increasingly promoted as a key tool for environmental progress, it also entails significant and often hidden environmental impacts. The workshop explored how these impacts were defined, discussed, and governed – asking how more transparent, responsible, and sustainable approaches to AI could be developed.

Since this event a number of workshops have been held to further explore the environmental impacts of AI infrastructure, how we approach impact quantification and reporting, issues of ethics, governance and responsible use, and the role of education and practice across disciplines, as well as the environmental implications of AI across the University and what questions we need to address as a community.

Panellists & Speakers:

Karen Anderson, Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter
Talk: The trans-boundary environmental Impacts of Earth Observation in the ‘Big Data’ and Constellation Era

Xiaoyu Yan, Professor in Sustainable Energy Systems, University of Exeter
Talk: The Environmental Implications of AI: A Life Cycle Perspective

Tim Dennett, Sustainability Manager, University of Exeter
Talk: Accounting for the Carbon Footprint of AI in Higher Education

Emily Robinson, PhD Candidate, University of Exeter
Talk: Can AI be both part of the climate solution and part of the problem?

Dylan Murphy, PhD Candidate, University College Dublin
Talk: The Materiality of AI: Waste, Data Centres and Ireland

Chris McMahon, Retired Professor of Engineering Design, University of Bristol
Talk: The triple dead-end of an extractivist, productivist and consumerist society

Sebastián Lehuedé, Lecturer in Ethics, AI and Society, Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London
Talk: The environmental impact of AI and grassroots resistance in Chile

Felicia Liu, Assistant Professor in Sustainability, University of York
Talk: Decarbonising digital infrastructure and urban sustainability in the case of data centres

Mark Bjornsgaard, Founder & CEO, Deep Green
Talk: From Waste to Resource: Reimagining Data Centre Heat

Tim Squirrell, Head of Strategy, Foxglove
Talk: Balancing Data Centre Growth with Environmental Responsibility

Jo Lindsay Walton, Principal Research Fellow in Arts, Climate and Technology, University of Sussex
Talk: Green and Intelligent? The uncertain role of AI in the climate transition

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