AI TRENDS | Conservation Groups Face AI Dilemma as AI Cuts Nine-Month Work to Hours

Kenya-based conservation group Save the Elephants now uses AI to analyze about 200,000 aerial survey photos in a few hours, a task that previously took nine staff members nine months. According to Sina Finance, environmental organizations are increasingly relying on AI to protect wildlife, monitor forest fires, and conduct research, even as they worry about its environmental costs. A survey of 15 conservation and development organizations found that all used AI to some extent and were concerned about its impact. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global data centers’ annual electricity use will reach about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, roughly twice the current level, while related carbon dioxide emissions will exceed 300 million metric tons. Annual water consumption by data centers could rise from 560 billion liters in 2023 to 1.2 trillion liters. The United Nations has called for greater transparency about AI systems’ environmental effects. The COP31 climate conference in Türkiye this month also plans to promote commitments to sustainable AI development. The Jane Goodall Institute is using Amazon Web Services technology to digitize handwritten records from a chimpanzee research project in Tanzania. Work initially expected to take 13 to 15 years could be completed in about two years. Conservation International uses satellite imagery and AI to alert forest patrols in Cambodia to fires. The Nature Conservancy analyzes fishing-vessel footage with onboard AI cameras, reducing the need to transmit large amounts of data to remote servers. The World Resources Institute limits resource use by restricting high-compute image and video generation and reusing existing AI analysis. Greenpeace remains skeptical of the continued expansion of data center infrastructure. Conservation organizations face the challenge of using AI to improve environmental protection while controlling its energy and water consumption and carbon emissions.