Lecture postponed
Lecture postponed: Repairing AI for Environmental Justice
Prof. Dr. Aimee van Wynsberghe (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
About the lecture [poster]
Let us imagine that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is broken. Not in the physical sense in which pieces are falling apart and need to be put together; rather, in the metaphorical sense in which there are serious ethical concerns related to the design and development of AI that demand repair. In this talk I will outline a definition of Sustainable AI as an umbrella term to cover two branches with different aims and methods: AI for sustainability vs the sustainability of AI. I will show that AI for sustainability holds great promise but is lacking in one crucial aspect; it fails to account for the environmental impact from the development of AI. Alternatively, the environmental impact of AI training (and tuning) sits at the core of the sustainability of AI, for example measuring carbon emissions and electricity consumption, water and land usage, and regulating the mining of precious minerals. All of these environmental consequences fall on the shoulders of the most marginalized and vulnerable demographics across the globe (e.g. the slave like working conditions in the mining of minerals, the coastal communities susceptible to unpredictable weather conditions). By placing environmental consequences in the centre one is forced to recognize the environmental justice concerns underpinning all AI models. The question then becomes, how can the AI space be repaired to transform current structures and practices that systemically exacerbate environmental justice issues with the consequence of further marginalizing vulnerable groups.
About the speaker
Aimee van Wynsberghe is the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Applied Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bonn in Germany. Aimee is director of the Institute for Science and Ethics and the Bonn Sustainable AI lab. She is co-director of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics and a member of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on AI. In each of her roles, Aimee works to uncover the ethical risks associated with emerging robotics and AI. Aimee’s current research, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, brings attention to the sustainability of AI by studying the hidden environmental costs of developing and using AI.
photo credit: Aimee van Wynsberghe
Please note: the lecture had to be cancelled and postponed to Winter term 24/25. The exact rescheduled date and time for the lecture will be communicated well in advance.
