Lack of Awareness of The Environmental Impacts of Artificial Intelligence
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Authors
Smith, Shaina
Date
2024-08-29
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Artificial Intelligence , Environmental Impacts , Public Awareness , Survey , Resource Consumption , Electronic Waste
Alternative Title
Abstract
The hope and hype of Artificial Intelligence algorithms in healthcare has led to substantial increases in the usage of computational resources. While data centres are an integral part of this development process, they generate electronic waste and require electricity to cool billions of litres of water to keep servers from overheating. Electronic waste is often sent to informal electronic waste recycling sites where chemical run-off from improper handling of e-waste is common, contributing to environmental pollution and consequential severe health outcomes. Prior awareness of these impacts was explored using the online platform Qualtrics to survey the staff, faculty, and students at Queen’s University. Participants were presented with thirty-eight questions and summary paragraphs of information that outlined topics such as Artificial Intelligence and cloud storage, Big Data, data centres and electronic waste, and overall awareness of resource consumption and informal electronic waste recycling sites. We observed participants who are faculty members and man-identifying participants have more prior familiarity with the presented terms in comparison to all other demographic groups. Additionally, a majority of woman-identifying participants indicated their perspective on Artificial Intelligence was negatively impacted by the survey and that the new awareness would impact their usage of technology and computational resources moving forward. Future similar surveys could be conducted on other populations to identify if there is an observed difference in awareness compared to the survey responses of participants at Queen’s University to understand awareness gaps better and inform future education and awareness campaigns. We found there is a lack of awareness of the environmental impacts of Artificial Intelligence within the Queen’s University community.
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Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
Attribution 4.0 International
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
Attribution 4.0 International