Seminar of Julien Lefèvre

(INT-AMU)

Environmental impacts of Information Technology and AI

10.30-12.00 LPL, conference room B011

The environmental impacts of information technology have been exposed for about 15 years. They have been recently updated through the shift project report [1] and a recent meta-analysis discussing trends and controversies [2], in particular regarding rebound effects. I will present more particularly quantitative tools in the field of AI (machine/deep learning) and a serious lack of evaluations for so-called AI solutions for environment [3], reflecting a general techno-solutionist state of mind. Those observations imply several conclusions, from a more critic approach in how to raise awareness for environmental issues and associated solutions [4] to a more global redirection of scientific activities taking into account planetary boundaries [5].

[1] Lean ICT, Shift Project, 2018
[2] Freitag et al, 2021, The real climate and transformative impact of ICT: A critique of estimates, trends, and regulations, Patterns, 2021
[3] Ligozat, Lefevre, Bugeau, Combar, Unraveling the Hidden Environmental Impacts of AI Solutions for Environment Life Cycle Assessment of AI Solutions, Sustainability, 2022 et la version grand public
[4]  Ligozat, Marquet, Bugeau, Lefevre, Boulet, Bouveret, Marquet, Ridoux Michel. 2022. How to Integrate Environmental Challenges in Computing Curricula?. In SIGCSE’22
[5] Monnin, Bonnet, Landivar, Héritage et Fermeture, 2021

Julien Lefèvre is part of the Aix-Marseille Political Ecology Workshop which “participates in the construction of a multidisciplinary community of the academic world working or reflecting on the multiple dimensions linked to ecological upheavals. »