Drivers of change: meeting the energy and data demands of AI adoption in Australia and New Zealand

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As artificial intelligence (AI) continues its swift integration into various facets of business operations, a pressing concern emerges: its impact on energy consumption. In response to this growing awareness, the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), with funding from Pure Storage Inc, sought to unveil the sustainability implications of AI deployment.

As businesses make decisions to deploy AI, a relatively unexplored question is how technology investment decisions impact on a firm’s sustainability targets.

Delving into this nexus, ISF conducted a survey targeted at those closest to the development and deployment of AI technologies: IT managers.

The online survey of Australian and New Zealand IT managers was launched in April 2024 closing on 12 May 2024.

The survey aimed to understand how AI is currently being used, future plans to scale AI infrastructure and whether organisations have considered how this might affect sustainability.

Survey findings – IT managers are 'uncertain'

From the survey it is clear that AI technology is becoming part of everyday practice. 72% of respondents had either already adopted or were piloting AI technologies.

However, IT managers are uncertain about the impact of AI on energy consumption. When asked how much energy consumption would increase on AI deployment a picture of uncertainty emerged with 11% of respondents believing it would treble, 8% that it would double, 15% believing it would increase by over 50% and 53% indicating that they were unsure.

IT managers understand that to meet ESG goals, IT infrastructure is critical (69% strongly or somewhat agreeing). A key issue is that AI deployment is putting pressure on budgets (67% strongly or somewhat agreeing).

When considering energy use of AI technology, IT managers are focused on energy efficiency or green energy more than reducing energy consumption overall. Among the measures taken or planned by respondents’ organisations to offset AI energy usage, 23% are focused on optimising the use of equipment, and 18% are investing in green energy. Only 4% have adopted the strategy of limiting AI usage to offset energy consumption.

Employee skills in AI technology are the most overlooked issue when it comes to AI deployment and there is a need for IT managers to improve their knowledge of the energy, water and climate impacts of AI technology.

ISF has recently published a report that details the key findings from this work and the need for more research in this important area.

A key unanswered question is why IT managers are so uncertain about the energy use of AI? There may be a number of reasons including uncertainty around the AI models themselves. To support firms to make future AI investment decisions it will be critical to answer these questions.

This collaboration between academia and industry has laid the groundwork for actionable guidance, empowering organisations to navigate the delicate balance between AI advancement and sustainability imperatives.

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Drivers of Change: Meeting the Energy and Data Demands of AI Adoption in Australia and New Zealand (2024) (Report)

MEDIA

'Wake up call’: Huge Aussie AI jobs projections, but industry emissions unchecked - news.com.au, July 4 2024

Australian IT Managers Unaware of the Sustainability Impact of Artificial Intelligence, Pure Storage commissioned research finds - Pure Storage, July 2 2024