Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice
- Author: Policy and insight
- Full Title: Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice
- Type: #snippet✂️
- Document Tags: #planet
- URL: https://click.pstmrk.it/3s/policy.friendsoftheearth.uk%2Freports%2Fharnessing-ai-environmental-justice%3Futm_source%3DclimateActionTech%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dcat-newsletter-255-2025-02-16/Y83j/F2u7AQ/AQ/f08a8f77-1fbe-42d6-add1-968238d9eeeb/49/y5APo2fEdL
Highlights
- The techno-solutionism inherent in the utopian vision insists that technology alone will solve the complex social and environmental problems faced by our societies. This obscures reality on the ground and the need for systemic change. It ignores the agency and power of our social and political solutions. It obscures the hidden costs of AI technology, both environmental and social, and the reality of the power dynamics at play in our societies. Market forces and Big Tech companies often control this narrative, attempting to wriggle out of their responsibility to create technology that benefits all of us, rather than a rich few. (View Highlight)
- Nothing is simple. We can’t treat AI as a standalone technology. We need to embrace complexity and the interconnectedness between technology, society and the environment. Civil society needs to work together to critically evaluate AI, resist techno-solutionism and challenge power dynamics to shape this conversation into one that benefits humanity. The relationship between AI and environmental justice is not only a consideration of the potential environmental impacts of using AI systems, but also of the interconnected impacts of the energy, minerals, labour, and infrastructure that AI systems require to function, as well as the potential futures AI enables.4 (View Highlight)
- Seek to understand the social and environmental impact arising from AI use. Develop and maintain an organisational AI policy that details the choices you make on AI usage and incorporates sustainability choices. Share your policies openly to help others make responsible choices. Report against your policies, and highlight where a lack of transparency from tech companies is making your efforts difficult. AI risk assessment tools, such as the one developed by the Wildlife Trusts, might help. (View Highlight)
- Draw attention to the environmental impacts of AI, holding organisations and AI companies accountable for their practices. Use these opportunities to encourage your audience to develop AI literacy, critically assessing the sustainability claims of AI technologies and supporting responsible practices. Joseph Rowntree Foundation has provided a useful briefing on AI literacy — what it is and why it matters. (View Highlight)
- This can help those outside the field of technology to begin to comprehend the practical impacts of AI. Given the billions of dollars involved in AI, these initiatives should be funded by Big Tech companies, helping ensure that their products and underlying technologies can serve a broader spectrum of society. This is an opportunity for activists and a place to enforce accountability. (View Highlight)
- This paper has addressed the reality of AI’s impact on our environment and our communities. Activists and campaigners are up against immense challenges stemming from market-driven forces, and the overwhelming influx of capital into AI development and marketing is dizzying. Civil society is struggling to figure out how we can make ethical choices when facing big systemic and structural issues exacerbated by unfettered AI development. We need to work together to address the concentration of power in the hands of a very small number of actors. And we must find ways to navigate what’s both an exciting and concerning AI-driven landscape. (View Highlight)