Government urged to prioritise AI sustainability

Led by the Royal Academy of Engineering – alongside BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT, and the Institution of Engineering and technology - the Engineering Responsible AI report urged government to ensure that tech companies accurately account for the energy and water their data centres are using.

The proliferation of AI has raised serious concerns over the resources needed to meet its computing demands, with gains in renewable energy and drinking water reservoirs potentially under threat. According to the NEPC, both Google and Microsoft have reported year-on-year increases in data centre water consumption since 2020, with much of this coming from drinking water sources. In an effort to meet AI’s rising energy demands, some tech companies are looking to SMRs to power new data centres while maintaining their climate commitments.

“In recent years advances in AI systems and services has largely been driven by a race for size scale, demanding increasing amounts of computational power,” said Nottingham University’s Professor Tom Rodden, chair of the report’s working group.