Kate Crawford
Scholar of AI's social and environmental costs; author of 'Atlas of AI' (2021)
USC Annenberg / Microsoft Research
Ethics and justice
Crawford's 'Atlas of AI' traces where AI actually comes from: mines, power plants, water, underpaid labour and scraped data. She argues the industry hides these costs and wants laws forcing disclosure of AI's environmental footprint, treating AI as an extractive industry rather than a would-be superintelligence.
Declines to give a number
No number; her work reframes AI as an extractive industry (minerals, energy, water, labour, data) rather than an autonomous mind. "I've seen consistent downplaying and denial about the AI industry's environmental costs since I started publishing about them in 2018." (Nature, February 2024)Source
On timing
Does not forecast AGI; focuses on the material and political present of AI systems (Atlas of AI, 2021; Nature 2024).
SourceWhat they call for
- Mandatory disclosure of AI energy and water use
- Environmental impact legislation for AI
- Accountability for extractive labour and data practices
- Attention to concentration of power
In their own words
Nature comment 'Generative AI's environmental costs are soaring — and mostly secret' calls for transparency and legislation on AI's energy and water footprint.
20 February 2024
"AI is neither artificial nor intelligent. It is made from natural resources and it is people who are performing the tasks to make the systems appear autonomous." (Guardian interview on 'Atlas of AI')
6 June 2021