A new survey shows growing concerns among citizens over potential environmental impacts artificial intelligence (AI).
Associated Press-NORC Center poll, Issued Thursday found that nearly 4 in 10 American adults say they are either “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impact of AI.
By comparison, 30 percent said they were “somewhat” concerned about the impact of new technology on the planet and 27 percent were either “not very much or not at all” concerned.
some concerns arise ai data centerThose occupy large tracts of land and require access to a water source to cool computers that may overheat at the amount of use required for large language models.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is currently developing an AI data center in Memphis, Tennessee subject to complaints Residents said turbines at the site released hazardous materials into the air, violating the Clean Air Act.
Aaron Gunno, a 29-year-old independent candidate in Ohio, told The Associated Press he is concerned about the lack of efforts to reduce environmental threats.
“They haven’t done anything in the way of offsetting it in a clean way,” he said, referring to the vast amounts of electricity and fossil fuels used to power AI data centers.
“They just keep building more and more,” Gunno said.
About half of Democrats surveyed said they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impacts of AI, while about one-third of independents and Republicans said they feel the same. AP-NORC Voting.
James Horner, a 52-year-old Republican in South Carolina, said he believes AI will solve its energy problem.
“This will help everyone,” he told the AP. “I think it’s going to be able to trace these processes that happen in our bodies that scientists, no matter how smart they are, haven’t been able to figure out yet. Supercomputers take all that data, I think it will help everything, health care, the environment. If it’s used the right way, it’ll be great.”
Meanwhile, about one-quarter of survey participants said AI would help more than harm, and about the same share said the opposite. About half of those surveyed said they were unsure or it would not make a difference.
“I think it’s a black box. I don’t know how we can know,” Amy Fenewald, a 61-year-old Democrat from Minnesota, told the AP.
The AP and NORC Center surveyed 3,154 adults from Sept. 2-18. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
