As a freelance researcher who is a big fan of tech and innovation, but who also treasures the environment, I’m on a mission to better understand the perspectives of consumers, businesses, policy makers, innovators etc. on tech, AI and sustainability and the environment.
Especially, I want to explore how we can switch the conversation from doom-saying (and doom-scrolling) to highlighting the many ways AI and tech are having positive impacts on sustainability and environmentally friendly goals and initiatives.
The potential benefits are many and varied and with the list below I’m just scratching the surface of what is being done and what could potentially be done:
- Optimization of resource management, including electricity, water, gas, etc.
- Smarter cities and more effective urban planning for transport, mobility, and better recycling and waste management systems
- Better building management systems (BMS) for more efficient energy and resource management
- More accurate and transparent carbon footprint tracking and reporting
- Discovery and design of new sustainable, recyclable or biodegradable materials, industrial equipment and processes for better management over the whole product lifecycle
- Better models for forecasting the environmental impact of business activities, real estate developments, and public projects, as well as better models for valuing natural assets and ensuring that this value (or loss of) is factored into financial forecasts and investment decisions
- Better models for valuing real estate which take more adequately into account climate risk, climate-related resiliency, and a whole array of risks ranging from ESG reputational to insurance underwriting
- Optimization of electricity grids, including location of renewables and the timing of their collections, storage and distribution activities
- More efficient supply chain management (SCM) and better tracking to ensure sustainable practices along the whole supply chain
- Better understanding of ecosystems, facilitating the spread of regenerative agriculture and agroforestry systems
- More effective irrigation systems that conserve water while improving soil health, and better soil management systems that help reduce the need for fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide
- Analysis of satellite data to track and analyze deforestation, unauthorized industrial activities, pollution, water quality and the impacts of climate change
- Better systems for tracking and understanding wildlife migration patterns
I’m going to dive deeper into the above areas in the coming weeks while also including examples and citing sources, and I’ll also be exploring key concerns relevant to consumers, businesses, NGOs, associations, public entities, agencies, consultants, etc. such as:
- How can we use AI in conjunction with our own human intelligence for advancing sustainability and benefiting the environment?
- How can we better understand what customers and audiences worry about regarding the negative impacts of AI on the environment?
- How to educate consumers on how to best identify which products and services are more sustainable, as well as how to most sustainably use and recycle products?
- How companies, organizations, government entities and trade bodies can communicate effectively and honestly their initiatives and generate buy-in from stakeholders, employees and consumers?
- How can we create and program tech and AI that will naturally seek to optimize the well-being of social and natural systems, instilling in their very nature the inclination to create positive outcomes and minimize detrimental ones?
Please feel free to get in touch with me to discuss, provide feedback, offer suggestions, examples, etc. via LinkedIn or emailing brian@leapvision.com
* Notes: The leading image was made with Copilot (I requested several and chose the ones I liked best – some were creepy like the planet Earth in a robot’s hand!), but the overall content was researched and the text written by myself. I did ask Copilot to write an article on the same topic and incorporated a phrase here and there, but I’m happy to report that overall mine was more complete and better written (at least to my taste). That said, it took me a few days and it took Copilot a few seconds!