How we will exist in a rapidly heating world where resources are depleting? It’s a question that keeps many of us awake at night. And while many of us are, so far, largely unscathed, it is our responsibility to leave the world a better place for the generations that follow. This idea, and the seemingly endless possibilities presented by AI, mean that maybe, just maybe, there’s something to be done.

During the recent 54th edition of the World Economic Forum, held at Davos, Switzerland, the issue of making short-term gains while losing sight of the bigger picture was a theme up for debate. While even those at the cutting edge of innovation hesitate to delve into the deeper details of just exactly how AI will come to our rescue in face of the climate crisis, certain broad strokes were laid out. The idea is that AI can help with measuring and reducing the emissions of any given institution by using its power to discover technologies that help reduce carbon production. It could also help to build technologies that anticipate climate disasters through the advanced processing of data, which in turn helps to mitigate the damage done. It can also develop contingency plans.

A local example is the Masdar City of Abu Dhabi. Funded by the government of Abu Dhabi and built by Masdar, a subsidiary of the state-owned Mubadala Investment Company, Masdar City is a model eco urban development. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the cluster of high-performing buildings is viewed as a laboratory to understand real-time resource needs and how to optimize these efficiently. “I think people want to live a life where they can have a positive impact on the environment and to be able to create places where that can happen, where you can find community, where you can find areas that can positively impact your health,” says Steve Severance, director of growth of Masdar City about resources and how people will live in the future.  As with all the world’s great cities of yesterday and today, Masdar City has two universities on-site–the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Technology Innovation Institute (TII) as well as the research entity Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC). These operate as think tanks and knowledge centers dedicated to the cause of improving urban development as well as developing technology-based solutions to imagine a better future.

Given that one of the most concerning, and largest, sources of carbon emissions in the world comes from the production of electricity and transport, Masdar City has created a command and control center to study the consumption patterns of energy used in its buildings and is in the early stages of working with AI to pinpoint anomalies and make significant changes that are aligned towards sustainability. Masdar City also encourages the use of public transport such as electric public buses, low-carbon personal transport, and the autonomous NAVYA shuttle. A metro line is in development. Last year, The Masdar City Free Zone introduced a new licensing package encouraging AI-based start-ups and businesses to accelerate the region’s AI growth.

Responsible data management has a crucial role to play in the larger scenario, however, data centers themselves use large amounts of electricity, contributing to 0.1 percent–0.2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is up to policymakers to utilize the information available and share it while ensuring affordable technology access to all for in order to spur increased global cooperation. It is early days when it comes to AI’s role in reversing climate. In the future, besides mitigation, AI will perform a significant role in adaptation and resilience, which could translate to projective modeling for large-scale natural disasters, responding to crises, and building resilient infrastructure. According to BCG’s Accelerating Climate Action with AI report, the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, has worked with Omdena, a global crowdsourced community of AI experts, to help mobilize risk-prone residents of Somalia who are frequently displaced due to natural disasters. Elements of the food system, such as agriculture, fisheries, and irrigation can benefit from predictive modeling and deepened data analysis by way of accurate estimates provided by AI.

The larger, troubling questions about AI relate to the biases that can be fed into these systems. By providing a wide range of data sets, regional discrepancies in information can be avoided. Solutions, once identified, can be further developed by the public sector. Steve Severance spoke about the larger vision for model cities like Masdar City which are shaped by the vision of leaders like Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, who recently said, “In 50 years, when we might have the last barrel of oil, the question is: When it is shipped abroad, will we be sad?” If we are investing today in the right sectors, I can tell you we will celebrate at that moment.” 

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