Artificial intelligence (AI) has become part and parcel of our everyday routines, from our professional roles to our personal lives, utilising AI is seemingly the new normal. 

Of course, with most things in life there are positives and negatives, advantages and disadvantages to this new phenomenon. Inevitably there will be, people who will love the new age of AI, embracing all it has to offer and then those who would rather stay clear of its influence and reach. 

AI is everywhere, you may even be using it without actually realising – but what exactly is artificial intelligence?

According to the UN environment programme, AI is defined as: “A catch -all term for a group of technologies that can process information and, at least superficially, mimic human thinking. Rudimentary forms of AI have been around since the 1950s. But the technology has evolved at a breakneck pace in recent years, in part because of advances in computing power and the explosion of data, which is crucial for training AI models.”

Whilst the topic of AI seems to have engulfed economic, social, political and environmental arenas in recent times many AI models have existed and played a huge role in our lives for years. Web search engines, recommendation systems and virtual assistants may sound alien but when you consider their function through platforms like google search, Netflix and Alexa, then their commonality and practicality becomes evident.

However, things become more complex when we consider the question: just because you can does that mean you should ?

Many of us will have watched on as Hollywood came to a standstill during the writer’s strike, which saw creative talent in the industry walk out, halting production whilst forcing the authenticity and morality of AI to come into question.

The Hollywood Writers’ strikes also highlighted the threat that AI places on job security as more oftentechnological alternatives infiltrate professional spaces, at times replacing skilled workers and putting many in a vulnerable position.

Whilst some grapple with the place of AI in the work space others seem to view AI not as a professional competitor but rather a unique colleague whose tools can be utilised to enhance various occupations.

The conflicting stances and opposing opinions that surround AI are not only rooted in the professional sphere but extend to the personal.

Data has never been more valuable or more sensitive than it is today. In order to train AI models data is crucial leaving some questioning where their data goes and when or where they should release it.

Have a Tesco club card? Shopping data is obtained to personalise ads and offers around your buying habits. On social media? Data is collected so that algorithms can be created around your preferences and interactions to tailor the content presented to you.

The idea of protecting your data and concealing confidential information can be quite overwhelming to wrap your head around and when you bring modern AI platforms into the mix, it is no wonder that some in our society seem fearful.

At work, in your car or your home, AI is often present and only a click or question away. The rapid escalation of AI is largely down to our reliance and usage of ChatBots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude.

So, with this rapid influx in popularity, what does this mean for the environment? The arguments for and against AI spill into the sphere of environmentalism and what new technologies such as this mean for our planet.

Advances in AI methods erected in new electrical devices can aid in the increase of electrical waste whilst the training and operational processes required for building the necessary infrastructure for data centres have increased greenhouse gas emissions, electrical usage and water consumption.

According to Scientific American , it is difficult to determine the effects of AI on our climate especially long term as “different types of AI—such as a machine learning model that spots trends in research data, a vision program that helps self-driving cars avoid obstacles or a large language model (LLM) that enables a chatbot to converse—all require different quantities of computing power to train and run.”

Whilst the production and training of AI ultimately increases carbon emissions one must also consider how this tool will be used and the knock on effect it will have on the planet.

David Rolnick, a computer scientist at McGill University, likens AI to a hammer: “The primary impact of a hammer is what is being hammered,” he says, “not what is in the hammer.” Just as the tool can smash things to bits or pound in nails to build a house, artificial intelligence can hurt or help the environment.

This analogy from David Rolnick encapsulates the varying opinions people have on AI and it’s divisive nature. The positives and negatives of AI could be talked about all day to ultimately reflect the good, the bad and the environmental impacts of this new phenomenon. Whether you love it, hate it or have never thought much of it, one thing is clear, AI is everywhere.