It’s easy for educators to get lost between headlines about AI’s footprint being “apocalyptic” and it being no big deal. So I’m excited to join Tai Munro, professor of Sustainability Studies at MacEwan University, this Wednesday June 25 at 11am EDT to dig into AI’s environmental impacts, from local v. global effects to how various AI queries compare to streaming Netflix or taking a flight.

Sizing up AI’s environmental footprint for your students—and yourself

Some of you know I’ve been trying to keep a set of calculations of AI energy and water use up-to-date with the latest research, based in part on resources you all have shared in this list (see the thread “9 takeaways about AI’s energy and water use”). I’m also incorporating a spate of studies from the last few months—feel free to share more of them!

Participants in Wednesday’s workshop will get a chance to try a new tool I’m working on that makes those comparisons easy to grasp, especially for students.

Tai and I will also do a quick group activity to come up with classroom-ready ideas for using AI more responsibly. It’s part of MyFest25, organized by Maha Bali and the Equity Unbound crew.

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Jon Ippolito
Professor of New Media