Session Overview 

This discussion session will focus on the environmental impact of generative AI. We will begin by providing a brief overview of the research on AI’s energy and water usage and what you can do about it, and then open the floor for participants to offer reactions to several guided questions. We hope to have a lively discussion, but encourage you to attend the session even if you do not intend to participate in the question-and-answer section. 

Learning Objectives

    •    Describe the different ways in which generative AI consumes energy.
    •    Summarize some of the evidence regarding AI’s energy demands and use of fossil fuels.
    •    Begin to evaluate what systems-level solutions might help minimize AI’s environmental impacts.

Accessibility

UCSF welcomes all participants to our events. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event because of a disability, please contact Ariel Deardorff at ariel.deardorff@ucsf.edu as soon as possible.

People

• Yea Hung Chen is a Data Science Specialist. He leads workshops on R and provides one-on-one consultations and data science and R.
• Eileen Chen is an Education and Research Librarian. She offers support with literature searching, data management, and open access publishing.
• Ariel Deardorff is the Director of Data Science and Open Scholarship. She leads a team focused on empowering researchers to engage with open research and reproducible data-driven science.
• Josephine Tan is an Education and Clinical Research Librarian. She teaches curriculum-integrated literature searching and citation management skills and specializes in medical education research.
• Holly Thompson is the Director of Education and Clinical Research Services. She leads a team of librarians who support the education and research missions of the UCSF professional schools, UCSF Health, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

AI in your Toolkit Series

This session is part of a 6-workshop series called AI in your Toolkit: Critical approaches to using AI in your work. Learn more about the series and find session materials on the AI in your Toolkit website.