In Australia, the drive to result in both synthetic intelligence and conservation has sparked a high-stakes issue.
Finding a balance between cutting-edge development and environmental goals isproving to be a formidable obstacle as Australia attempts to strike a balance between the nation’s quest to become a worldwide AI powerhouse.
How American companies utilize technologies for sustainability
Technology is key to much of Australia’s labor in development and sustainability.
For instance, a clean energy company called Sunshine Hydro combines a technology solution, called AESOP, as its point of difference. A sophisticated software called AESOP enables Sunshine Hydro to combine thermal, pumped water, and wind with safe-keeping and then effectively distribute it to the grid.
Another organization, Enosi, has developed a way to track carbon-free energy at a network level. This Powertracer bright metering technology enables large corporations and systems to obtain a” true zero carbon” position on power by sourcing energy entirely from alternative sources.
Enosi is working with Google to assist these businesses in developing better power-sourcing approaches and achieving their Environmental goals, even as they increase their AI expenditure quickly.
In order to further Australia’s overall goals of becoming a clean energy power, businesses like Sunshine Hydro and Enosi highlight the important role that the country’s IT sector will play. IT will be crucial in bringing this technology to life and supporting its implementation and operation, despite the government’s investment in cutting-edge production and its desire to have Australia build sovereign capabilities in solar panels, storage battery manufacturing, and other areas.
As an article in the AFR noted, when assessing the skills required to support renewable energy and sustainability in Australia:” Likely in-demand clean energy occupations include electricians, metal fitters and machinists, plant operators as well as technologists, developers and artificial intelligence ( AI ) experts”.
The American government has made an investment in hiring AI engineers. The authorities announced a significant$ 5 billion collaboration with Microsoft in 2023 to recruit talent for Australia’s” AI time” and make the high-value positions needed to manage cutting-edge conservation projects.
However, an online system backed by Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian, is aiming to assist train and walk more than 100, 000 Australians into clean-energy tasks by 2027. ” Software and Technology” is one of the six key areas where the app, Terra. would, provides mentoring and coaching courses.
What are the problems of AI in conservation?
There are significant issues with the sustainability of AI, despite efforts to tune technology to be more sustainable and to use AI to promote efficient outcomes.
The second point is one that is politically significant: The two major parties have become increasingly engaged in a heated debate over whether to invest in nuclear instead of renewable energy in order to meet the country’s current energy needs.
Also, the AI that is being integrated into conservation applications is a gross sustainability gain, but Australia’s widespread support for the idea of AI is likely to lead to significant setbacks in the country’s sustainability objectives.
Second, AI is a well-known energy drain. As little power as 10 Google searches can be used for a second research on ChatGPT. According to data shared by the company, one data center Meta uses for AI reasons “burns the equivalent of monthly energy as 7 million notebooks running eight hours every time,” according to the Washington Post.
AI is also a large customer of water, which is used to great the machines that run the software. Globally, AI’s liquid consumption may reach 6.6 billion m3 by 2027. A large number of the AI programs used in Australia are now powered by international data centers. However, as Australia invests more in technology and innovation, there will be more demand for local information centers to house AI programs and their information within Australian borders.
In addition to addressing the societal risks in your AI purchase business cases, your board is involved in examining the risks to your ESG objectives, as a Forbes post noted.
Australia still has to understand the inherent conflict between sustainability and artificial intelligence, despite the country’s desire to take the lead in both these areas. There are other environmental effects of AI that do n’t seem to be taken into account, even if Australia can power AI applications through traced renewable energy sources.
