Environment
how your use of ai affects the climate and the environment
Running AI uses energy and other resources, and that has an environmental cost. This card is about understanding how your use of AI affects the climate and weighing it against the value you get. A team pauses here to look at a cost that is easy to overlook.
Questions to explore
- What is the environmental cost of the AI you use, and how would you find out?
- Where might you be using heavy AI for tasks that a simpler approach could handle?
- How does the environmental impact of AI fit with your newsroom's own values?
- What tradeoffs are you willing to make between AI convenience and resource use?
- How would you explain your AI use to an audience that cares about the climate?
Expert voices
“AI comes at a price: its data centers consume vast resources. Sustainability belongs in the conversation.”
“Data centers are extremely resource intensive and the companies are opaque about their footprint. How does that match your personal ethics or your organization's environmental pledges?”
“Discuss and understand the environmental and social costs that come with using AI tools in your media organization.”
“A single AI query can use ten times more electricity than a Google search. Before using AI for a story, ask whether it is necessary, whether a lower-impact method exists, and whether you could batch queries.”
Things to consider
- The environmental cost of AI is real even though it is out of sight.
- Heavier tools are not always needed for lighter tasks.
- Use that matches your stated values is easier to defend.
Pull Environment when it is relevant and set it aside when it is not. Pair it with the other AI Conversations cards, lay them out on a table, and use the questions above to get everyone on the same page. Capture what you discuss on sticky notes or in a shared doc.
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