Amid efforts by climate scientists and advocates to address environmental challenges, Google DeepMind climate action lead Sims Witherspoon sees potential in artificial intelligence (AI)emphasizing the importance of framing the solution through reflective questions.
At the Wired Impact Conference in London, Sims Witherspoon, climate action lead at Google DeepMind, said that go climate change as a scientific and technological challenge, expressing optimism in addressing it through artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, Google merged its Brain and DeepMind AI teams under a single banner called Google DeepMind.
Witherspoon suggested a strategy called the โUnderstand, Optimize, Accelerateโ framework, which outlines three steps to addressing climate change with AI, which involve engaging with those affected, assessing the applicability of AI, and deploying a solution for impactful change.
When examining the path to implementation, Witherspoon noted that certain options become less viable due to existing regulatory conditions, infrastructure constraints, or other limitations and dependencies, such as restricted availability of data or suitable partners.
Witherspoon highlighted the importance of a collaborative approach, highlighting that while individual expertise is valuable, cooperation is crucial and requires the combined contributions of academics, regulatory bodies, corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and affected communities.
Witherspoon said that in collaboration with the UK's National Weather Service Met Office in 2021, Google DeepMind leveraged its comprehensive radar data to analyze rainfall in the UK using AI. The data was fed into Google's Deep Generative Rainfall Model (DGMR) generative AI model.
Witherspoon stated:
"We carried out a qualitative assessment involving 50 meteorological experts from the UK Met Office, and over 90% of them favored our methods, ranking them as their best option over traditional methods."
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He highlighted that the source code data and verification methods are freely accessible. Despite acknowledging the potential of AI to address climate change, Witherspoon also cautioned that this emerging technology is not a panacea.
Sims Witherspoon said AI is not a universal solution to climate challenges. He stressed the importance of implementing AI responsibly, recognizing its environmental impact due to energy-intensive processes until the grid runs on carbon-free energy.
In May, Kate Saenko of Boston University warned on the environmental impact of AI models like GPT-3. The 175 billion parameter model consumed energy equivalent to 123 cars for a year, generating 552 tons of CO2, even before its public launch.
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