” We hear all the time that AI can save the planet, but there’s no reason to believe the hype », explained in the columns of guardian Michael Hu, one of the Friends of the Earth members who helped write the report, admits only “ Slight gain in efficiency ” and to add: ” In the years to come, people will be outraged to see how much energy AI will consume, as well as how much misinformation it will flood us with. »
Risk of misinformation
Because there’s another key lesson from this report: For its authors, generative AI will soon produce climate disinformation campaigns. Easier, faster and less expensive, while allowing them to spread more and faster ” As an example, the study specifically cites this misinformation widely circulated on social networks and American media in 2023, according to which the deaths of whales stranded off the east coast of the United States were caused by offshore wind farm projects.” AI is the ideal tool to flood the network with this type of crap produced quickly and cheaply », asserts Michael Hu.
