Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of asking ChatGPT a question, casually scrolling through social media, or binge-watching a series on Netflix?

These everyday activities of our technological society are made possible by the vast amounts of data being exchanged in an increasingly instant-paced, AI-driven world. Tens of thousands of data centres spread across the globe are at the heart of this highly complex flow of information. However, as the number of data centres increases, so does their consumption of natural resources and energy, leading to a larger carbon footprint and significant environmental impacts.

This was the focus of a recently aired episode titled “Data Centres: what’s the path to sustainability?” on RTP’s TV programme “Biosfera,” where INESC-ID researcher Rodrigo Rodrigues, from the scientific area Distributed Parallel and Secure Systems, helped explain why and how data centres are becoming major consumers of energy and natural resources worldwide. According to Rodrigo, “In some countries, that consumption is overwhelming. For instance, in Ireland, the electricity consumed just to power data centres already represents 20% of the total electricity consumed.”

In the episode, he also discussed innovative solutions being developed by companies to minimise this impact, giving him “reasons to be optimistic and vigilant.” While “AI can revolutionise digital transition and the generation of knowledge for preserving our planet”, it will “not be easy to track the environmental impacts associated with the manufacture and use of these data systems”.

Watch the full episode (in Portuguese) here.