<![CDATA[AI's #environmental #impact is no joke.]]>AI's is no joke.

"By 2030, infrastructure could generate up to 2.5 million metric tons of e-waste each year, roughly equivalent to discarding 250 Eiffel Towers annually" (page 13).

Roughly 50 pages on this very important matter by a team of reasearchers at the United Nations University:

👇
https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/environmental-cost-of-AIs-Enrgy-Use-Carbon-water-and-land-footprints

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/9dd0e7d5-e6ee-4f87-9c39-f25379cb98c7/ai-s-environmental-impact-is-no-joke.RSS for NodeWed, 24 Jun 2026 10:53:14 GMTThu, 18 Jun 2026 09:26:33 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:10:17 GMT]]>@FritzAdalis @dw_innovation That was my thought, too. Still not quite sure how Eiffel Towers accomplish their science communication goal, here.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/guyjantic/statuses/116774103759383356https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/guyjantic/statuses/116774103759383356Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:10:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:41:21 GMT]]>@dw_innovation @guyjantic
Eiffel towers? The French will do anything to avoid using Metric.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/FritzAdalis/statuses/116771866658413956https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/FritzAdalis/statuses/116771866658413956Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:41:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:54:47 GMT]]>@dw_innovation How much is an Eiffel tower, I ask from France. Better would be to compare it to other waste situations like "the e-waste of a country like X / the e-waste of xy smartphones etc.
But the study is important because it adds to the impact by waste of electricity and drinking water.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/NatureMC/statuses/116771683503047151https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/NatureMC/statuses/116771683503047151Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:54:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:43:50 GMT]]>@dw_innovation where is an equivalent metric for communications technology generally?

Is it possible that this will be continuous? Or will the AI usage somehow fizzle out after all efficiencies are found?

Where is this heading?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dckim/statuses/116771404576608058https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dckim/statuses/116771404576608058Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:43:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:29:24 GMT]]>@dw_innovation Why do people always make these useless comparisons? I don't want to compare it to Eiffel towers, I want to compare it with other industries.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/erwinrossen/statuses/116770640007131799https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/erwinrossen/statuses/116770640007131799Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:29:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to AI's #environmental #impact is no joke. on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:51:44 GMT]]>@dw_innovation

...this report would have far more power [IMO] if it quantified some things better: how many hard drives are thrown out per year, maybe compared among different types and scales of data centre (as one example)

Also if it's conclusions were something other than kind of vague inevitability. It loses a lot of impact with the whole "well these things are here" ending...

"asbestos is here so learn to breathe it better"

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mapstodon.space/users/adamsteer/statuses/116770491892502705https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mapstodon.space/users/adamsteer/statuses/116770491892502705Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:51:44 GMT