Artificial Intelligence And Environmental Accountability: A Legal Analysis Of Energy Use, Carbon Debt And Ecological Governance
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Anushka Singh, Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR
ABSTRACT
Artificial Intelligence (AI), the most pivotal revolution of the 21st century, presents a severe environmental and energy crisis. This book chapter explores, in various stages, the ecological impacts led by AI across its lifecycle- mineral extraction, use, and waste disposal. The utilisation of rare earth minerals in AI hardware exposes ecosystems to radioactive by- products, soil contamination, and dangerous rays. Big data centres, the foundation of AI, exert pressures on biodiversity, water, and air through land conversion, overwater withdrawal for cooling, and fossil-fuel-powered electricity usage. These operations result in carbon debt, the long-term climate policy implications of which are unknown. Case studies of Congo's cobalt mines, Oregon and Ireland's data centres, and GPT-3's carbon debt document the extent to which biodiversity and human settlements are displaced or threatened by uncontrolled AI infrastructural growth. Moreover, manufacturing and usage of electronic equipment lead to massive e-waste production, which is harmful to soil and water quality. Against this backdrop, the chapter makes a case for climate-sensitive governing frameworks, carbon-sensitive AI innovation, and deployment of clean energy technologies. AI remains a threat to the larger landscape of environmental sustainability; technological development needs to be in check for the conservation and maintenance of the ecological balance.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Data Centres, Carbon Debt, Loss of Biodiversity, Water Stress, Air Pollution, Climate Governance, Sustainable AI.
