Trend Insight 20: the same technology that raises emissions is offered as climate infrastructure

Summary

This trend presents AI as a possible tool for tackling climate change, even though its growing use also raises emissions. AI is already advising farmers on planting times and helping develop climate-resistant crops up to five times faster than traditional breeding. It supports smart meters, dynamic pricing and smart thermostats that can cut bills by up to 22%, and it helps heavy industries such as cement, steel and glass, which account for over 20% of global emissions, optimise energy use. Models like GraphCast have improved hurricane forecasts, and AI could speed up the discovery of greener materials. Yet the benefits may be offset by more e-waste, energy demand and consumption, and models trained on past data may struggle as the climate changes.