Recently, SAS has provided a new report on how the rapid growth of artificial intelligence could affect global carbon reduction efforts. The report is titled Rethinking Cloud Data and AI: How to Move towards a Sustainable Future. Official figures show that Ireland is so energy-hungry that call centres used more electricity last year than all of the country's urban households combined. So what are the specific threats that the rapid growth of AI poses to reducing carbon emissions?

For the huge energy consumption we mentioned earlier, a practical example is Google's use of AI to power its search-induced business, which requires the same amount of electricity as the electricity needs of the Republic of Ireland. According to SAS's Chief Environment Officer, environmental responsibility is generally perceived as being primarily on cloud providers, but it is actually a shared responsibility. By optimizing the data and AI platforms running in the cloud, AI model development efficiency can be improved and teams can reduce unnecessary duplication and waste and minimize energy consumption.

More than half (54%) of enterprises identified AI as the main driver of their cloud investment, and there was a statement that there would be no AI without data centers. There is a certain connection between artificial intelligence and the cloud, and at present, everyone's attention to artificial intelligence is increasing, and the importance of effective cloud strategy is also increasing. Cloud scalability and processing power are critical for holding and managing the type of reference data that AI requires. Cloud investment decisions are also increasingly driven by the need for artificial intelligence.

The report highlights growing evidence of data consumption and environmental impact, with cloud computing accounting for 2.5 to 3.7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than commercial aviation. Cloud computing improves operational efficiency while also significantly increasing carbon emissions. Therefore, cloud server providers still need to make greater efforts in the direction of sustainable development in data center design and management innovation.

Some experts warn that if the growth rate is not slowed, the AI industry could consume as much energy as the Netherlands by 2027. Optimize the cloud environment: The report recommends improving the efficiency of AI model development by optimizing the data and AI platforms running in the cloud, reducing unnecessary duplication and waste, and minimizing energy consumption.

Sustainability initiatives: SAS Outlines five steps organizations can take to optimize their cloud infrastructure and improve energy efficiency, including creating a culture of sustainability, understanding the environmental impact of compute workloads and continuous improvement, addressing cloud proliferation, leveraging low/no/on-code platforms for model development, and choosing the right partners.

Taken together, SAS's report warns that rapid advances in AI could pose a threat to global emissions targets, and that corresponding measures are needed to optimize cloud infrastructure and improve energy efficiency for a sustainable future.