AI is Trash: The Environmental Externalities of Machine Learning Tools

with Dr. Anne Pasek

Wednesday – 12 February 2025 – 12-1pm EST

Part of the AI Hopes & Fears Speaker Series, Trent University

Dr. Anne Pasek is the Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment, and an Assistant Professor cross-appointed between the Department of Cultural Studies and the School of the Environment at Trent University.   

As an energy humanist, Dr. Pasek’s research focuses on the cultural politics of climate change, with recent work examining the role of energy in shaping academic norms and research methods.   

Join Dr. Pasek in exploring the many ways that the mass adoption of machine learning tools – particularly generative deep learning algorithms – is exacerbating the environmental impacts of the tech industry. This talk will explore the unseen material costs of so-called AI, the convoluted business strategies driving its current hype cycle, and the range of strategies within industry and beyond that are attempting, insufficiently, to mitigate its harms. A short audience question and answer session will follow Dr. Pasek’s presentation. 

Feature Image: “252 — Abandonned wellies in a farm — bottes abandonnées dans une ferme” by HeveaFan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.