Bergur Thormundsson
Research expert covering technology in the Nordics, AI and smart cities
ESG and artificial intelligence (AI) - statistics & facts
Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off in leaps in 2024, particularly its integration into major businesses. These same businesses, like many investors, are concerned with the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of AI. Multiple organizations across the globe are taking increased steps to mitigate the extensive risks posed by AI programs. Part of these risks includes the effects on the environment that AI can have. Another is the immense amount of energy needed to power an AI algorithm. And the third, and no less important, is the aspect of humans engaging with AI and how the most rapidly developing addition to AI advancement, chatbots, engages back.
AI takes its toll on energy and the environment
AI systems are not easy to build and maintain. They require an enormous amount of energy to run their training algorithms and build their datasets. Some estimates suggest that in training ChatGPT, one of the most advanced generative AI models, nearly 1,300 megawatt hours of energy were required to train the model. This is a considerable amount of energy, especially when compared to the average electricity demand per capita in Europe. Another example of the environmental impacts of AI includes Llama, Meta’s main foundational AI model, that reportedly produced some 300 tons of CO2 emissions in 2023 alone - roughly the equivalent of 100 average humans. While not incredible, considering there are eight billion people on the planet, it is still considerable given that there are numerous large language models (LLM) in development.It all comes back to sex and gender
In skills and talents, the AI market is still dominated by males. On average, men are much likelier to tend to AI skills. It is only in India and the United States that females are more likely to list AI skills than the average individual globally. This same imbalance is found in the reverse when it comes to the attributes of chatbots, where female-modeled bots are considerably more numerous than male-designed ones. This can be seen with OpenAI’s recent voice assistant, Sky, which features a female voice.Balance is tricky to maintain in a free market
It is tough for both governments and organizations to reach a perfect balance in ESG concerns when dealing with a rapidly evolving new technology. Free will in market conditions and education drives the imbalance, where men tend far more towards tech sector jobs than women. Governments and company leadership can help alleviate this imbalance through careful review of products and practices but must tread a careful line to not overbalance in the opposite direction.
