AI Investment Under Scrutiny: Open Source Advocates Challenge Corporate Adoption Rates and Environmental Costs

i guess fundamentally i'm not convinced that whatever amount useful functionality has emerged from generative AI (and i think the jury's still out on whether that amount is non-zero) couldn't have been achieved in more cost-effective, equitable and sustainable ways by having taken the money and resources we've shoveled into gen AI and investing them elsewhere ("sustainable" in the sense of environmentally sustainable but also "can we keep this in a working state" sustainable)

https://theconversation.com/ai-laws-overlook-environmental-damage-heres-what-needs-to-change-279047; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17579961.2025.2593781#d1e163 (full text). "AI is an energy-intensive & thirsty industry. It leads to huge #greenhouse #gas #emissions, #pollution & loss of #nature... The manufacture of components relies on the extraction of #rareearth elements. This can contaminate #soil & #water, pollute the #air & lead to loss of nature & #forest #habitats. Training AI models is incredibly #energy- & #water- intensive."

"Things are only going to get worse: The rapid adoption of AI could add between 1.2 million to 5 million metric tons of e-waste in total by 2030, according to a 2024 study published in Nature Computational Science. The high-performance hardware required for AI, such as GPUs and specialized servers, is advancing quickly. The rapid turnover for computing devices — about two to five years — leads to older parts becoming obsolete and being discarded quickly, too. The Basel Convention, an international treaty that prohibits the illegal transfer of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries, has been in place since the 1990s but implementation is lacking. In 2018, when China’s National Sword policy banned the import of most foreign waste, the U.S. shifted these exports to other Asian and African nations. Most of these countries lack the public awareness and robust regulations to protect themselves from the ill effects on the environment, labor, and health. In India, devices are far more likely to be repaired, resold, or rebuilt in the vast informal economy than dismantled by certified recyclers. These informal workers, like scrap dealers and small repair shops, prioritize quick value extraction, often using unsafe methods like open burning, acid baths, or manual dismantling." https://restofworld.org/2026/global-ewaste-crisis/ #eWaste #AI #India #PlannedObsolescence #InformalEconomy #Recycling

Is AI getting a bit too smart for its own good? 🧬 From Google’s AlphaGenome predicting DNA mutations to Anthropic literally "locking up" their new Mythos model because it’s too powerful, the game has changed. Let's dive into the technical and ethical reality of 2026. Read the full breakdown here: https://aing.ndrini.eu/the-ai-paradox-from-genomic-breakthroughs-to-the-too-powerful-threshold/ --- #AI #Europa

AI was supposed to make us work less. Instead, it's making us work more. An 8-month UC Berkeley study found: AI tools don't reduce workload, they intensify it. Workers took on more tasks, blurred work/life boundaries, and juggled more threads than ever. Nobody asked them to. AI just made "doing more" feel possible. Until burnout hit. The fix isn't more tools. It's more discipline around the tools we have. https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it #AI #FutureOfWork #Productivity #Burnout

Stanford's 2026 AI Index Report shows Generative AI reached 53% adoption within three years of ChatGPT's launch - faster than either the PC or the internet at comparable points. Global corporate AI investment hit 581B USD in 2025, up 130% year-on-year, while AI agents handling real-world tasks improved from 20% to 77% success rate. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ai-adoption-outpaced-the-pc-internet-dive-into-the-stanford-report-data/572305/ #Marketing #Strategy #AI