Depending on who you talk to, artificial intelligence will either plunge humanity into darkness or lead it to a shining utopia. That dichotomy is particularly prominent when it comes to discussions of whether AI can help mitigate climate change.
At first glance, there is plenty of evidence that AI, which mimics human intelligence, and machine learning—AI’s close cousin that analyzes patterns—can be harnessed to work toward the goal of keeping the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, as enshrined in the Paris Agreement in 2015. That requires slashing greenhouse gas emissions, mostly generated by the burning of fossil fuels, to “net zero” by 2050. Given that greenhouse gas emissions reached a record-high total of 57 billion tons in 2023, adopting policies and technologies that can speed up decarbonization has never been more urgent.
To that end, AI and machine learning tools hold particular promise in the energy sector, which accounts for over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. AI can help integrate renewable energy sources like solar and wind into smart grids, or electricity networks that use digital technology to monitor, manage and optimize the production, distribution and consumption of electricity.