TU Delft AI Lunch: The unprecedented environmental impacts of AI: a transdisciplinary discussion

Benedetta Brevini
Visiting Professor at the Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University

Benedetta’s research is grounded in a critical political economy that investigates the social,political, economic and environmental implications of data-driven communication systems and in particular the relationship between Data Capitalism, AI and the Climate Crisis. Before joining the academy, she worked as journalist in Milan, New York and London for CNBC, RAI and the Guardian. She is the author of several books including Is AI good for the Planet(2022), Amazon: Understanding a Global Communication Giant(2020), Public Service Broadcasting online (2013) and the editor of Beyond Wikileaks(2013), Carbon Capitalism and Communication: Confronting Climate Crisis(2017), Climate Change and the Media(2018).  She is currently working on a new volume for Polity entitled “Communication systems, Technology and the climate emergency”.

Olya Kudina

Assistant Professor of Ethics & Philosophy of Technology (Faculty of TPM)

Olya is an interdisciplinary researcher in philosophy/ethics of technology who explores the relation between human values and technologies. Her recent focus has been on AI and democracy in the framework of the AI DeMoS Lab that she founded and co-leads. To anticipate the ethical challenges and opportunities of technologies, Olya thinks it is essential to combine different academic practices and fields.

June Sallou

Postdoc researcher on green software & green AI (Faculty of EEMCS)

June’s research focuses on software engineering and sustainability, and more specifically how Approximate Computing can be applied to develop more sustainable (software) systems and green AI. “The energy and computational costs of traditional AI practices are not only high in financial terms, but they also have major impacts on our planet's resources. The use of ICT is constantly increasing, with estimates that its energy consumption could reach as much as 21% of the global total by 2030. And climate change is something I am personally very concerned about, especially since it is largely caused by human activities. As a software engineer, I feel a strong responsibility to contribute to the solution, and not contribute to the problem.”