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https://theconversation.com/from-the-telegraph-to-ai-our-communications-systems-have-always-had-hidden-environmental-costs-263811>
"When we post to a group chat or talk to an AI chatbot, we don’t think about
how these technologies came to be. We take it for granted we can instantly
communicate. We only notice the importance and reach of these systems when
they’re not accessible.
Companies describe these systems with metaphors such as the “cloud” or
“artificial intelligence”, suggesting something intangible. But they are deeply
material.
The stories told about these systems centre on newness and progress. But these
myths obscure the human and environmental cost of making them possible. AI and
modern communication systems rely on huge data centres and submarine cables.
These have large and growing environmental costs, from soaring energy use to
powering data centres to water for cooling.
There’s nothing new about this, as my research shows. The first world-spanning
communication system was the telegraph, which made it possible to communicate
between some continents in near-real time. But it came at substantial cost to
the environment and humans. Submarine telegraph cables were wrapped in
gutta-percha, the rubber-like latex extracted from tropical trees by colonial
labourers. Forests were felled to grow plantations of these trees.
Is it possible to design communications systems without such costs? Perhaps.
But as the AI investment bubble shows, environmental and human costs are often
ignored in the race for the next big thing."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
