Can AI Save the Planet?

How artificial intelligence can help fight climate change

ANATOLA
July 05, 2023

Good morning! Happy Wednesday, July 5th. This week, we celebrate both Independence Day as well as the radiant supermoon – the largest full moon of the year according to NASA.

The moon must have gotten the memo that it’s cancer season. I surely have! From restoring coral reefs to visiting the MIT Media Lab to celebrating my birthday, I’m really excited about all that cancer season has in store.

In today’s issue, how AI and climate change intersect, and how AI can play a vital role in addressing this global challenge.

Everyone is buzzing about how AI might take our jobs. But have you ever stopped to think about how AI might impact another huge issue we face: climate change?

87% of climate and AI leaders find AI to be a helpful tool in the fight against climate change

- BCG Climate AI survey, May 2022

I recently read the book, Is AI Good for the Planet? which talks all about how AI could make climate change worse through things like electronic waste and data center emissions. It seemed to answer the question it posed in its title with a resounding, “no.”

While it’s a valuable read, I noticed it didn’t mention any ways AI could actually help save the planet. So, I decided to do some research and put together my own list of ways AI can be our useful sidekick in navigating this global crisis.

Here are 5 ways AI could actually help save the planet:

Reduce Agricultural Waste
Algorithms can help farmers manage a mix of crops more effectively at scale, as well as predict what crops to plant and when. This regenerates the health of farmland. It also reduces the need for nitrogen-based fertilizers which convert to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2.
Improve predictions of how much energy we need
Algorithms can predict energy demand, which is vital for helping us ration renewable energy sources as we become more reliant on them in the future. This will help the transition to renewable energy.
Increase Electric-Vehicle Adoption
Algorithms can improve battery energy management to increase the mileage of each charge and reduce “range anxiety,” thus lowering barriers to electric-vehicle adoption.
Help Make Buildings More Efficient
Introducing intelligent algorithms into buildings can dramatically reduce a building’s energy consumption. These systems learn how best to adjust cooling systems in order to optimize energy savings, in some saving buildings as much as 40 percent of their energy use.
Improve Deforestation Tracking
Satellite imagery and computer vision can automatically analyze the loss of tree coverage at a much greater scale. It can also help identify illegal deforestation activity.