Black boxes, not green: Mythologizing artificial intelligence and omitting the environment
黑盒子，而不是绿色：神话人工智能并忽略环境
Author: Benedetta Brevini（贝内德塔·布雷维尼）
Source：《Big Data & Society》 2020
Abstract: We are repeatedly told that AI will help us to solve some of the world's biggest challenges, from treating chronic diseases and reducing fatality rates in traffic accidents to fighting climate change and anticipating cybersecurity threats. However, the article contends that public discourse on AI systematically avoids considering AI’s environmental costs. Artificial Intelligence- Brevini argues- runs on technology, machines, and infrastructures that deplete scarce resources in their production, consumption, and disposal, thus increasing the amounts of energy in their use, and exacerbate problems of waste and pollution. It also relies on data centers, that demands impressive amounts of energy to compute, analyse, categorize. If we want to stand a chance at tackling the Climate Emergency, then we have to stop avoiding addressing the environmental problems generated by AI.
文摘：我们反复被告知，人工智能将帮助我们解决世界上一些最大的挑战，从治疗慢性疾病和降低交通事故死亡率到应对气候变化和预防网络安全威胁。然而，文章主张，关于人工智能的公共讨论系统地回避了考虑其环境成本。人工智能——布列维尼认为——依赖于技术、机器和基础设施，这些在生产和消费以及废弃过程中消耗稀缺资源，从而增加了其使用中的能源量，并加剧了废物和污染问题。它还依赖于数据中心，这些数据中心需要大量的能源来进行计算、分析和分类。如果我们想要有机会应对气候紧急状态，那么我们必须停止回避人工智能产生环境问题。
Keywords: Environmental communication; environmental costs; artificial intelligence; Big Data; political economy of communication; environmental costs of technology
编译：刘鑫
