Artificial Intelligence: A Path to Ecocidal Consequences

Abstract

The current technological paradigm of the twenty-first century is often defined as Artificial Intelligence (AI). This field is described as a panacea of economic development, social innovation and sustainable development, with discourse often focusing on efficiency and transformative capacity. Nonetheless, the prevailing narrative of the equivalence of technological sophistication and sustainability tends to mask the material, ecological and labour-intensive basis needed to sustain AI systems, and hides a growing ecological footprint. The growth of AI relies on massive data centres that use gigawatts of electricity and substantial amounts of freshwater, intensive mineral extraction for semiconductor production, and a significant increase in electronic waste. As AI systems proliferate, they simultaneously contribute to a growing trend of damage to the global environment, which could amount to ecocide.

Governance frameworks typically focus on ethical principles such as fairness, transparency, privacy, and accountability; however, these concerns often tend to overshadow the more significant political and ecological consequences of the rapid growth of AI. Despite the rapid expansion and permeability of Artificial Intelligence, its potential to cause ecocide remains unexplored. This article examines how the escalating sophistication of tools in the form of Artificial Intelligence has the potential to produce environmental harms that meet the threshold of ecocide. The intention of the authors, instead of providing definitive proof, is to be accountable for, and delineating the responsibility ought to be taken into consideration by the designers of such algorithmic technologies.