Keir Starmer's announcement about AI growth zones, including one in water-stressed Culham, Oxfordshire, has raised environmental concerns. Helena Horton highlights that data centres consume vast amounts of energy and water for cooling, exacerbating local resource stress. While the interest in AI as a tool for climate improvement is positive, it risks sidelining vital existing technologies for renewable energy, like innovative batteries. Horton emphasizes the need for accountable development when integrating AI infrastructure, as it must not negate progress with current technologies.
These data centres don't just use a huge amount of energy, they also use a huge amount of water a lot of the time.
If we are going to build these data centres that are required for AI, we need to be responsible with how we build them.
It's good to have the world's greatest thinkers thinking about climate change, but the issue is that it can be used as an excuse not to use existing technology.
The batteries that are being developed for renewable energy solutions are just not as kind of sexy as AI, you know?
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