With AI more and more a part of our lives there is a cost to pay for using these advancements in technology, Member of Somerset Youth Parliament, James Lawson gives his views on AI search engines.
Artificial intelligence at first seems to be a beautiful gift, but when you research the impacts, it has on the environment and people, it’s opportunities turn sour.
When we search on Google, our impact is far away, but it still exists. To process the information, data centres use thousands of litres of water to cool down the technology. With drought conditions across the globe becoming more common, this usage is obscene.
Water usage is not the only impact. To power the data centres, large amounts of energy are used. Data processing centres are often in America, where energy is generated from fracking and then burning the oil and gasses that are released. Globalisation means that by using technology, we are releasing carbon dioxide from less sustainable countries like America. We also cannot be sure where our data will be processed.
So, what is the solution? Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees! Ecosia powers it’s data centres with renewable hydroelectric energy and uses the water from the process to cool the data centres. Download Ecosia today!!
James
Somerset Youth Parliament campaigns
Each Member of Youth Parliament works on a campaign during their term, which is supported by their Deputies and the Advisory Group. It allows us to understand what changes young people want to see in the communities they live in and makes sure that those views are heard by Somerset’s decision makers.
To find out more about our Member of Youth Parliament’s campaigns visit our Campaigns page.
