On June 5th, the world celebrated World Environment Day. The day is a tradition established by the United Nations in 1972 to promote global awareness and action on the environment. For decades, this day has been a rallying day for governments, businesses and citizens to reflect on the state of our planet and renew our commitment to protect it.
But this June event took place at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industry, society, and our daily lives. AI is being hailed for its ability to transform healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance.
However, behind the innovation there is a harsh reality. AI consumes huge amounts of energy, requires large amounts of water to cool servers, and often produces e-waste that is not recyclable.
Consider scale. Training one large-scale AI model can consume as much electricity as hundreds of homes use in a year. Data centers, the backbone of AI, are expanding rapidly. In areas with a high concentration of data centers, now known as Data Center Alley, such as Ashburn, Virginia, communities are feeling the pinch on water bills.
Cooling servers is water intensive, consuming an average of about 9 liters per kilowatt hour. Multiply this with thousands of servers running continuously and the environmental costs become staggering. This heavy use also impacts air and water quality, noise levels, land use, and energy costs, according to research from The Conversation.
These numbers raise urgent questions about ethics and responsibility. From a cost-benefit perspective, do the benefits of AI outweigh the environmental costs? And if so, who is responsible for ensuring the balance is fair?
Every prompt you type into Copilot, Gemini, or ChatGPT has an invisible environmental footprint. The convenience of instant answers, predictive analytics, and creative content doesn’t come for free. It is subsidized by energy grids, water systems, and communities that do not directly benefit from this technology.
As a student at the University of Lancashire in the UK, currently studying Business Analytics and AI, this discussion hits particularly close to home. Just this week, our lecture focused on the impact of data and AI, not only in terms of efficiency and innovation, but also in terms of sustainability and ethics. It’s surprising how the same algorithms that promise business breakthroughs can simultaneously strain the very resources we rely on to survive.
We observed that approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to water, and approximately 2.4 billion people, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, suffer from water and sanitation problems, exposing them to cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases.
But, paradoxically, AI also provides powerful tools for sustainability.
AI can track deforestation in real time through satellite monitoring. Smart grids allow you to optimize energy use, reduce waste, and integrate renewable resources more efficiently.
AI-powered early warning systems are already helping communities prepare for floods, droughts, and wildfires, saving lives and resources. In agriculture, AI models guide farmers to use water more efficiently and reduce pesticide use, directly contributing to environmental protection.
This duality of AI being both a strain and a savior is the paradox of our time. The question is not whether AI should exist, but how it should be managed.
Accountability frameworks, transparent reporting and investment in greener infrastructure must be non-negotiable. Just as industries disclose their carbon footprint, high-tech companies should be required to disclose the environmental footprint of their models.
Governments should encourage the development of green AI that incorporates efficiency and sustainability into the design, rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
There are some bright spots. Some companies are experimenting with renewable energy-powered data centers, while others are researching liquid cooling systems that reduce water usage. Researchers are working on smaller, more efficient AI models that deliver comparable results without wasting large amounts of energy.
However, these efforts remain sporadic and voluntary. Without clear regulations and global standards, progress will be uneven and environmental costs will continue to rise.
As we continue to think about World Environment Day, the question is not whether technology can save us, but whether we will demand that technology responsibly save us. AI is here to stay. Its potential to promote sustainability is immense, but so too is its potential to undermine sustainability if left unchecked.
Janet Sudi – Maina is a communications and AI expert
