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The Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 and How It Can Evolve and Improve
The Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 is extensive and timely due to the explosion of AI and the urgent issue of fighting climate change. This policy involves an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study on the environmental effects of AI, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) devising a methodology to assess and report environmental consequences due to AI, and the creation of a voluntary reporting system for organizations to submit the effects of their AI use. The EPA study covers the lifecycle of AI’s climate impacts from the mining to the manufacturing and disposal of AI chips as well as the training and use of models. E-waste, pollution, water consumption, and energy consumption are also taken into account.
Some potential future challenges are the majority of companies not participating in the voluntary reporting as well as updating the methodology and doing more studies at rates fast enough to match the pace of AI’s impacts on the environment. The Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2024 can evolve and improve via:
