By Tim Langdon – Publisher of Eco Voice & Eco News
(…..with a little help from AI)
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Creating intelligent computer systems that automate tasks that are usually performed by people – Learning (from data), Reasoning (using logic to solve problems) and Decision Making (making choices based on available information and analysis).
Examples of AI
Machine Learning has been around for decades – such as algorithms that allow computers to learn from data. Natural Language Processing such as chat bots that answers questions on websites. Generative AI creates new content such as music, images and text. Robotics such as those used in factories and warehouses. Drones that use AI algorithms for for real-time decision-making, obstacle avoidance, and mission optimization, enabling them to operate in various industries like agriculture, logistics, and public safety.
What is Sustainability?
The notion of sustainability takes into account all of the stakeholders – the environment, the economy and the community. Sustainability is for everyone. Sustainability. Are You In?
The Overarching Issues Facing Sustainability
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century that began in Britain and then spread throughout the world has seen economies move from agrarian to industrial factory based economies. This all-embracing change that occurred in only a few centuries has resulted in macro impacts on sustainability – taking into account the environment, the economy and the community.
Consider 1800 to 2025
- In 1800 the World’s population was around 1 billion people. Today there are over 8 billion.
- By 1850 there were only three cities with a population greater than 1 million (London, Paris & Beijing).
- Then, people lived agrarian lifestyles on farms and small communities, now they predominantly live in consumer focused cities. In many cases MEGA cities.
- This rapid population growth has led to the depletion of the natural world. Unsustainable use of resources and significant environmental damage – pollution, invasive species, bio-diversity loss, clearing of forests and land, water quality, greenhouses gases, life in our oceans, health issues etc.
- THINK: Industrial mining, Industrial agriculture, Industrial fishing, Industrial forestry to supply the needs and wants of over 8 billion people, predominantly located in consumer-focused cities.
- THINK: Energy required to fuel this – oil, gas, electricity etc.
- THINK: Landfill, plastics in our oceans and climate – more severe storms, droughts and floods.
What started as an Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century has now morphed into the Industrial-scale depletion of the natural world.
Could AI adoption be the Silver Bullet that the natural world so desperately needs? It may be argued that human intelligence, driven by greed, has not provided us with the solution, perhaps artificial intelligence will. Obviously, AI also has its environmental consequences too – such as the energy required to power mega datacentres and the recycling of computer e-waste. Community consequences – such as the reimagining of the role of work and those left behind. Important too, will be how governments and lawmakers provide the necessary safeguards to ensure that AI option is used to benefit the natural world, not to make things worse.
Thought Leadership
Eco Voice has interviewed, and published articles from, many thought leaders who are making a sustainability impact thorough AI adoption. Here are some examples around Australia and from overseas:
In Tasmania – enhancing conservation efforts with AI-powered wildlife monitoring, significantly saving volunteering hours.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/
Charles Darwin University is using AI to detect forest coverage changes with a high accuracy.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/
AI-powered bushfire detection sensors, protecting forests and communities in Australia & NZ.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/
Ai-powered “SmartGate” allowing wildlife to move more freely back and forth through predator-free fences.
Develop more precise and scalable solutions to tackle the complex challenges posed by climate change. For example, AI-powered tsunami inundation forecasting solution.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/
AI is already shaping Australia’s cities and infrastructure, with almost a third (32%) of engineers, architects, city planners, and digital leaders relying on it daily.
AI-powered tools serving as a gateway to sustainability-focused insights, providing business leaders and policymakers with data and intelligence to inform decisions that will drive meaningful climate action.
There are so many applications of how AI may assist sustainability. It is not limited to the natural environment.
Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON), in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), has announced the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Singapore to pilot and deploy building technologies leveraging AI and machine learning driven-solutions that can deliver a scalable view of a building’s life cycle and total energy use.
AI’s long-term impact
“AI will continue to drive transformative changes within the data centre industry, especially this coming year. It will also lead to significant data centre reconfigurations over time. The changes that lie ahead for data centres have the potential to be monumental. There is no doubt we are in a cycle of intense innovation to ensure that AI is delivered with the lightest sustainable and most cost-effective footprint.
These shifts include achieving carbon and water neutrality, leveraging nearly 100% green materials, adopting cutting-edge liquid cooling solutions, and leveraging AI in data centre design, maintenance, power management automation with utilities, backup power control, and cooling control.
With every technological leap, data centres of the future are adapting to meet ever-changing demands, ensuring a steadfast increase of their bearing on citizens and society, as well as organisations and economies”.
Source: https://www.ecovoice.
IBM Report: Australian leaders expect AI to have a positive impact on their organisation’s sustainability goals
“AI can streamline data collection, assist sustainability leaders in understanding environmental risks, and support informed decision-making through clearer regulatory navigation”.
The Convergence of AI, Internet of Things and Robotics
The fusion of AI and IoT is transforming industries, enabling real-time decision-making, automation, and predictive insights. From self-driving cars to AI-powered factories, AIoT is making systems smarter, more efficient, and more autonomous. This obviously has huge potential for sustainability that craves efficiency and values the resources of the natural world.
AI as a growth catalyst but potential economic risk
The World Economic Forum in a recent report says: ‘Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to drive the next wave of economic transformation, unlocking significant growth potential but also introducing serious risks.’ Respondents in their report “highlighted the misuse of AI for disinformation and societal destabilization as the top risk to the economy (53%). Other key risks include rising concentration of market power (47%) and disruption of existing business models (44%). To fully harness AI’s potential, the chief economists emphasized the need for bold action from both governments and businesses. For governments, top priorities include investing in AI infrastructure (89%), promoting adoption across key industries (86%), facilitating AI talent mobility (80%), and investing in upskilling and redeployment (75%). For businesses, the focus is on adapting core processes to integrate AI (95%), reskilling employees (91%) and training leadership to steer AI-driven transformation (83%).”
Source: https://www.ecovoice.com.au/chief-economists-warn-global-growth-under-strain-from-trade-policy-shocks-and-ai-disruption/
A Nascent Market
Nascent markets, or emerging markets, are often characterised by rapidly growing demand and competing technologies. As we saw with the Internet from the mid-1990s to the DOT.com crash in 2000, nascent markets (such as the Internet) are also characterised by ‘cowboys’ and large numbers of company failures. From the ashes of the 2000 collapse though, the FANGs were born – (Facebook – now Meta, Amazon, Netflix, and Google – now Alphabet). Apple was added later making it FAANGs. These companies are known for their rapid growth, dominance in their respective industries, and significant impact on the stock market.
The potential misuse of AI for disinformation and societal destabilization needs to be considered as the top risk to the economy BUT if all goes well (perhaps after an initial collapse like what happened to Internet in 2000) the Silver Bullet that the natural world so desperately needs is with us. Let’s hope that AI delivers. 
INDEPENDENT NEWS IS IMPORTANT.
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