Towards Environmentally Sustainable AI
Event Summary
Artificial intelligence tools appear to have great potential for enhancing policy efforts to protect the environment and promote sustainability. Some initial research already suggests that environmental applications for AI could involve, among other things, promoting decarbonization, optimizing distributed energy systems, predicting extreme weather events, and strengthening environmental monitoring.
But there are significant environmental costs associated with AI too: increasing energy consumption demands, as well as carbon emissions from computation and from the operations of large data centers. This workshop will explore what is known about AI’s carbon footprint—and what technical and policy options might be available to reduce it.
Snacks and other refreshments will be served.
The workshop is free of charge, open to the public, and will be held in person.
The AI and Climate Change workshop series is organized by the Penn Program on Regulation and is made possible in part by funding from the Environmental Innovations Initiative. Co-sponsors include the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences, and Wharton Climate Center.
Deep Jariwala
Associate Professor of Electrical and Systems EngineeringDeep Jariwala is an associate professor of electrical systems engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Benjamin Lee
Professor, School of Engineering and Applied ScienceBenjamin Lee is a Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering and Professor of Computer and Information Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Penn.
Shelley Welton
Presidential Distinguished ProfessorShelley Welton is Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy with the Kleinman Center and Penn Carey Law. Her research focuses on how climate change is transforming energy and environmental law and governance.
