A value-based tradeoff to explore AI Tools in the Twin Transition : The case of the Horizon Europe DaCapo project
book
“While AI could change the world in many unforeseen ways, it’s already having one massive impact: a voracious consumption of energy.” Times Magazine, 2024. (1)
Popular AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude are promising to address sustainability challenges and support Europe’s Twin Transition (i.e. the transition to more digitalization and sustainability at the same time). With the leap in innovation and productivity these tools afford, a topic that is currently receiving increasing attention is the short term impact these tools may have in terms of sustainability (Khowaja et al., 2024; De Vries, 2023). Their innovation & productivity gains versus their requirements in terms of energy and water seem to present a paradox that requires attention: using these tools may help us up the Twin Transition in the long run, but at the same time may harm that very same transition in the short term. At TNO our vision is that “Our economy needs to foster innovation and competitiveness, while embracing sustainability, including circular practices.”(2) In a recent Horizon Europe Project we encountered this seeming contradiction when developing a Digital Circularity Consultant with Popular AI Tools. In this article we reflect on our experiences on how to cope with these developments and provide initial considerations and suggestions on how to navigate this trade off. As new tools and use cases develop at record pace, there are no clear answers yet. To support Europe’s SME’s to stay innovative, competitive, and sustainable, we at TNO are currently working towards guidance for a Value-Based Tradeoff that may help future researchers, businesses and citizens in considering using the right Popular AI Tool for the right use case.
1 https://time.com/6987773/ai-data-centers-energy-usage-climate-change/
2 https://www.tno.nl/en/about-tno/mission-vision/speed
Popular AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude are promising to address sustainability challenges and support Europe’s Twin Transition (i.e. the transition to more digitalization and sustainability at the same time). With the leap in innovation and productivity these tools afford, a topic that is currently receiving increasing attention is the short term impact these tools may have in terms of sustainability (Khowaja et al., 2024; De Vries, 2023). Their innovation & productivity gains versus their requirements in terms of energy and water seem to present a paradox that requires attention: using these tools may help us up the Twin Transition in the long run, but at the same time may harm that very same transition in the short term. At TNO our vision is that “Our economy needs to foster innovation and competitiveness, while embracing sustainability, including circular practices.”(2) In a recent Horizon Europe Project we encountered this seeming contradiction when developing a Digital Circularity Consultant with Popular AI Tools. In this article we reflect on our experiences on how to cope with these developments and provide initial considerations and suggestions on how to navigate this trade off. As new tools and use cases develop at record pace, there are no clear answers yet. To support Europe’s SME’s to stay innovative, competitive, and sustainable, we at TNO are currently working towards guidance for a Value-Based Tradeoff that may help future researchers, businesses and citizens in considering using the right Popular AI Tool for the right use case.
1 https://time.com/6987773/ai-data-centers-energy-usage-climate-change/
2 https://www.tno.nl/en/about-tno/mission-vision/speed
Topics
TNO Identifier
1005444
Publisher
TNO
Collation
18 p.
Place of publication
Den Haag