AI & Sustainability
Climate change can affect rural communities and people with dementia.
Issues with AI Infrastructure
Large corporations are building and training massive data centers that can harm the environment through high carbon dioxide emissions, high water consumption, and heavy energy use. These data centers may also disrupt natural habitats and wildlife. Currently, there are no laws requiring businesses to disclose their resource use, and it is unclear whether they are tracking it.
Dementia & Climate Change
Climate change can threaten older adults in numerous ways, including through personal, environmental, and occupational factors. Zuelsdorff and Limaye (2023) developed a framework for assessing the effects of climate change on dementia risk and burden, which can also be applied to rural populations. For example, the risk of power outages can make it difficult to stay socially connected with care partners who live far away. Extreme heat may lead to disorientation and agitation in individuals already experiencing emotional and cognitive changes. The burden of climate change will disproportionately affect vulnerable dementia populations, who often face limited access to medical resources and other rural-related barriers.
Sustainable Practices in OT
Climate change can threaten older adults’ ability to engage in meaningful occupations, and it is OTPs’ responsibility to take action by providing sustainable care for clients with dementia and their caregivers.
Take action now:
Occupational Therapists for Environmental Action
In this Ted Talk, Sasha Luccioni exposes how tech companies' massive data centers burning through energy. Luccioni recommends new legislature should have the AI companies take accountability of the environmental costs. She introduces an alternative way of using AI models (with lower energy) to make the technology smarter, fairer, and sustainable. Resource she mentioned in the video: AI Energy Score
BBC talks about the concerns with AI putting stress on drinking water sources.
In this Ted Talk, Sims Witherspoon talks about how AI can be a transformational tool to fight against climate cahnge. She argues that AI can help humans understand climate change, help optimize current infrastructure, and accelerates the science we need (e.g. resources we need).
New York University Abu Dhabi Institute hosts a keynote and a panel discussion about AI for sustainability: innovation, policy, and impact around the world. A panel speaker talked about how an AI system helped under-resourced farmers in Tanzania solve crop growing issues from distance.