Author: Kamrul Hassan – PROMPT! Cohort #1
Introduction
AI is no longer just an idea from science fiction but in reality it is literally everywhere; helping the doctors read scans, video suggestions on YouTube and even powering AI assistants like Siri with ChatGPT. It is a must truth that AI wouldn’t have existed without the progress made in STEM.
But while AI makes life easier in several ways, it also has serious downsides as well impacts for the environment and moreover even on human life. Hence training large AI models uses huge amounts of energy and power from the electric power stations for instance and making advanced hardware and tools that may require extraction perhaps in harmful ways.
AI usage in Daily Life
Healthcare
AI helps doctors spot diseases earlier and more accurately far better than before. For example, each section algorithm is able to study medical images like X-rays or MRIs and notice patterns that humans might miss doing traditionally. This means quicker diagnoses and better chances of recovery for patients in real time, hence none of this would be possible without the STEM that power these systems.
Education
Learning has also changed because of AI daily usage nowadays. Online platforms like Codecademy and Coursera use assistants to guide students, simply showing them where they need more practice and suggesting lessons as well as feedback throughout the courses they are taking in. This makes high-quality education more accessible and reliable to everyone. However, there is a tension that arises about whether too much reliance on AI might limit creativity and less function of the human brain itself.
Jobs and Automation
AI and robotics both hand to hand are reshaping the workforce. Machines now are in control primarily to perform jobs on factory lines, supermarkets and also in offices. Some jobs are disappearing rapidly, but new ones are being created in data analysis, integrated systems, and eco-friendly sustainable technologies. This shift means that STEM knowledge is becoming even more important for future workers rather than the traditional learning curve and specific set skills..
Environmental Impacts
Energy Use
One major problem with AI out of many is its energy usage. Just training an one large AI model can release as much carbon as several cars do over their lifetime if we put them together all at once. Data centers, especially those which run these models are already using about 1–2% of the world’s electricity and in fact this number is rising on a daily basis.
Materials and Waste
AI also depends on advanced computer chips which are far greater than the traditional microprocessors we know of, by which it requires materials like lithium and cobalt most commonly. Mining and extracting these resources often harms the environment and can create unsafe working conditions for the workers, reducing their lifespan.
AI Fighting Climate Change
Inexclusively, AI is also being used to protect the environment and make the world a better eco and greener place for everyone. One of the advantages is that it can analyze satellite data to predict deforestation, improve energy use in smart power grids, and help farmers use resources more efficiently than ever they might be able to without the support of it. Hence by reducing the waste and emissions, AI could play a vital role in slowing climate change as well as improvements thoroughly.
Ethics and Policies
With great power comes great responsibility which is a crucial aspect for all human lives to follow. Now the real question is who actually should make sure AI is sustainable; to the companies building it, the governments regulating it and even the people who are using it nonstop? Some groups, like for example the EU, are creating rules for safe and fair usage of AI but nevertheless the environmental concerns and factors are not always the focus primarily. Top global organizations like the UN are pushing the theme of creating a better “green AI,” which means building systems that use less energy and rely more on more renewable sources rather than unsustainable and nonrenewable sources..
Conclusion
With all that said, AI has finally become a powerful and important part of our modern life, all thanks to STEM development eventually. One can say boldly that it has eventually improved healthcare, education, and work life but it also uses huge amounts of energy and resources at the same time. Also it can help fight climate change if used responsibly and in the right direction. Now the future depends on finding a balanced life; with enjoying the benefits of AI while making sure it does not harm the planet and also living things.
Citations/References:
Collins, F. S., & Varmus, H. (2015). A new initiative on precision medicine. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(9), 793-795.
International Energy Agency (IEA). (2022). Data centres and data transmission networks. IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks
Rolnick, D., Donti, P. L., Kaack, L. H., Kochanski, K., Lacoste, A., Sankaran, K., … & Bengio, Y. (2019). Tackling climate change with machine learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.05433.
Strubell, E., Ganesh, A., & McCallum, A. (2019). Energy and policy considerations for deep learning in NLP. Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 3645–3650.
Topol, E. (2019). High-performance medicine: the convergence of human and artificial intelligence. Nature Medicine, 25(1), 44–56.
World Economic Forum. (2020). The future of jobs report 2020. WEF.
