AI has become a powerful tool in addressing the pressing environmental issues of our time, and is opening the door to a transformative new era in the field of sustainable practices.
In response to the growing concerns of climate change, deforestation, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity, many organisations have begun leveraging AI's potential and contributing towards a number of factors, including energy consumption, transportation, carbon emissions, water resources, air quality, and so much more.
AI Magazine takes a look at the pivotal role played by AI at some of the world’s largest companies and explores how environmental challenges are being addressed, as well as highlighting the crucial influence that technology has in shaping a more eco-friendly tomorrow.
10. Blue River Technology (a subsidiary of John Deere)
Within the agriculture industry, AI has the potential to generate a substantial number of environmental advantages. Founded in 2011, Blue River Technology, a subsidiary of John Deere, uses AI-driven machinery to enhance crop management. Through machine learning (ML) and robotics, its See & Spray machine equips farmers with applying herbicide only to weeds, enabling farmers to maximise the potential of every plant in their fields.
9. Carbon Engineering
Established in 2009, Carbon Engineering is at the forefront of advancing AI-driven approaches for carbon capture and elimination. The company’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology is dedicated to extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, a crucial measure in the fight against climate change, with AI playing an indispensable role in increasing the effectiveness of this procedure.
8. Xylem
Founded in 2011, Xylem's water management systems, powered by AI, are revolutionising the approach to preserving and distributing water resources. Through the surveillance and enhancement of water infrastructure, Xylem's technology minimises water loss and guarantees a more sustainable water distribution. The company’s decision intelligence and digital twin work uses AI/ML to help utilities achieve revolutionary results throughout their system at the asset, plant and network levels.
7. Nokia
Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency offers the potential to lower energy costs and carbon emissions by as much as 30% while maintaining performance and customer experience. The AI-powered solution can be deployed within weeks, swiftly enabling CSPs to achieve substantial energy savings. Serving as a telecommunications energy management solution, it can effectively reduce power consumption in both active and passive RAN equipment, optimising energy savings and network performance simultaneously.
6. Google DeepMind
DeepMind, a subsidiary of Google, is harnessing the power of AI to enhance energy utilisation within data centres. By using the DeepMind AI system, the company has achieved up to a 40% reduction in cooling expenses. This achievement not only enhances the energy efficiency of data centres but also establishes a remarkable model for environmentally friendly technology infrastructure.
5. Meta
In collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, META has created a new AI model designed to enhance the sustainability and strength of concrete mixtures. On-site trials delivered a remarkable 40% reduction in carbon emissions, surpassing the strength requirements. For context, the cement used in concrete (to make data centres which power the internet) is responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions, therefore if efforts prove successful, the implications could extend far beyond data centre construction, benefiting the broader construction industry as a whole.
4. Tesla
Tesla's self-driving vehicles, equipped with cutting-edge AI, are not just transforming the way we travel but also curbing carbon emissions. The effective path mapping and driving behaviours of Tesla's AI-powered cars play a role in promoting a more eco-friendly and sustainable future for transportation. Tesla is dedicated to advancing and implementing autonomy at scale in vehicles, robots and more, and believes that the most effective strategy involves leveraging cutting-edge AI for vision and planning, supported by efficient use of inference hardware, to achieve a general solution for full self-driving, bi-pedal robotics and beyond.
3. IBM
The IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite is an AI-powered Software as a Service (SaaS) platform designed for monitoring, forecasting, and addressing the impacts of weather and climate. Through the analysis of extensive meteorological data and weather data application programming interfaces (APIs), IBM's AI models offer valuable information that can enhance disaster readiness and response efforts, leading to the potential for saving lives and minimising environmental impact.
2. Microsoft
Global giant Microsoft is utilising AI to safeguard biodiversity through its AI for Earth program. The program aids global conservation by offering AI tools for ecosystem monitoring and management. By facilitating more informed, data-driven choices, Microsoft's AI contributes to the preservation of the Earth's diverse and abundant biological life.
The AI for Earth Program is a US$50m, five-year commitment from Microsoft aimed at harnessing the transformative potential of AI to address global environmental issues in the critical domains of climate, agriculture, water, and biodiversity preservation. Through grants that provide access to cloud and AI tools, fostering AI education and training opportunities, and investing in innovative, scalable solutions, AI for Earth strives to promote sustainability on a global scale.
1. Amazon
Amazon sells and ships a huge number of products every day, and in order to post with minimal packaging at maximum speed and ensure the customer’s order arrives undamaged, large-scale innovation must take place. Amazon SageMaker, which was introduced in 2017, is a cloud-based, machine learning (ML) platform that enables developers to generate, train, and implement ML models in the cloud, while also allowing developers to deploy ML models on embedded systems and edge devices.
Its primary objective was to enhance the eco-friendliness of packaging choices while maintaining a high standard for the customer experience. The Amazon SageMaker provided the ability to introduce fresh models in a matter of weeks, enabling ongoing innovation in waste reduction methods. This spans from ML models predicting potential product leaks to recognising items suitable for shipment in paper bags or compact packaging, presenting limitless opportunities.
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