AI 导致 Google 碳排放增加 48%

Google's greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 48% higher than in 2019, according to its latest environmental report.

根据其最新环境报告，谷歌 2023 年的温室气体排放量比 2019 年增加了 48%

The tech giant puts it down to the increasing amounts of energy needed by its data centres, exacerbated by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI).

这家科技巨头将其归因于其数据中心所需的能源不断增加，而人工智能（AI）的爆炸性增长更是加剧了这种情况。

AI-powered services involve considerably more computer power - and so electricity - than standard online activity, prompting a series of warnings about the technology's environmental impact. Google's target is to reach net zero emissions by 2030 but it admits that "as we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging." In its 2024 Environmental Report, external Google says it is "due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute." Data centres are essentially massive collections of computer servers - and AI needs a huge amount of them. A generative AI system - such as ChatGPT - might use around 33 times more energy than machines running task-specific software, according to a recent study. 

与标准在线活动相比，人工智能驱动的服务涉及更多的计算机能力和电力，引发了一系列关于该技术对环境影响的警告。谷歌的目标是到 2030 年实现净零排放，但它承认“随着我们进一步将人工智能融入到我们的产品中，减少排放可能具有挑战性。”外部谷歌在其 2024 年环境报告中表示，这是“由于人工智能计算强度加大而导致的能源需求增加”。数据中心本质上是大量计算机服务器的集合——人工智能需要大量的计算机服务器。根据最近的一项研究，生成式人工智能系统（例如 ChatGPT）可能比运行特定任务软件的机器多使用约 33 倍的能源。

However, Google's report also reveals large global disparities in the impacts of its data centres. Most of the centres in Europe and the Americas get the majority of their energy from carbon-free sources. This compares with data centres in the Middle East, Asia and Australia, which use far less carbon-free energy. Overall, Google says about two-thirds of its energy is derived from carbon-free sources.

然而，谷歌的报告也揭示了其数据中心的影响在全球范围内存在巨大差异。欧洲和美洲的大多数中心的大部分能源都来自无碳来源。相比之下，中东、亚洲和澳大利亚的数据中心使用的无碳能源要少得多。谷歌表示，总体而言，其大约三分之二的能源来自无碳能源。

"If you actually go into data centre, it's really hot and really noisy," says Tom Jackson, professor of information and knowledge management at Loughborough University. "People don't realise everything they're storing in the cloud is having an impact on their digital carbon footprint," he says. Prof Jackson runs the Digital Decarbonisation Design Group, which tries to measure and find solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of data usage. "Data providers have to work closely with large organisations to help them move away from storing so much of their dark data," he says. Dark data is data which has been collected by organisations but which has either been used once or not at all.

拉夫堡大学信息与知识管理教授汤姆·杰克逊（Tom Jackson）表示：“如果你真的进入数据中心，就会发现它真的很热而且很吵， 人们没有意识到他们存储在云中的所有内容都会对他们的数字碳足迹产生影响，”目前，杰克逊教授领导着数字脱碳设计小组，该小组试图测量和寻找减少数据使用碳足迹的解决方案。 “数据提供商必须与大型组织密切合作，帮助他们摆脱存储如此多的暗数据，”他说。暗数据是组织收集但曾经使用过或根本没有使用过的数据。

However, storing it on chips still takes up large amounts of energy even when it is not being used. "On average, 65% of the data an organisation stores is dark data," says Prof Jackson. He commends Google's target of reaching net zero in its data centres by 2030, but says it will be "really tough."

然而，即使在不使用时，将其存储在芯片上仍然会消耗大量能量。 “平均而言，组织存储的数据中有 65% 是暗数据，”杰克逊教授说。当他评论 Google 至2030 年实现数据中心净零排放的目标，他表示这将“非常艰难”。

The increasing energy - and water - use of AI has prompted a series of warnings, especially as the sector is forecast to keep growing rapidly. The boss of the UK's National Grid said in March that the combination of AI and quantum computing would lead to a six-fold surge in demand in the next 10 years. However, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently downplayed the environmental impact of AI. Speaking in London last week, he suggested AI would increase electricity demand by between 2% and 6%. "The question is, will AI accelerate a more than 6 per cent reduction? And the answer is: certainly," he said, as reported by the Financial Times.

人工智能能源和水的使用量不断增加引发了一系列警告，特别是在预计该行业将继续快速增长的情况下。英国国家电网负责人3月份表示，人工智能和量子计算的结合将导致未来10年需求激增六倍。然而，微软联合创始人比尔盖茨最近淡化了人工智能对环境的影响。上周他在伦敦发表讲话时表示，人工智能将使电力需求增加 2% 至 6%。据英国《金融时报》报道，他表示：“问题是，人工智能发展加速是否会超过 6% 的速度？答案是：一定会。”