Louisiana universities, such as Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans, are concerned with researching the impending environmental collapse. Tulane University is no exception.
That crisis is now. The previously agreed-upon limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of universal warming has been surpassed. With this unprecedented climate shift, we cannot comprehend what catastrophes await us in the near future.
As a university with a robust environmental science department located near the Mississippi Delta, Tulane should have a principled environmental stance regarding artificial intelligence. The university should be dedicating its resources to not only alleviating the impacts of climate change but also protecting New Orleans’ existence and the state as a whole.
Tulane’s recent actions are at odds with its supposed commitment to sustainability. In particular, the university’s attitudes toward AI are naive at best and careless at worst. An entire page of the university’s website is dedicated to AI-related news. In bold font, the page affirms AI’s “potential” and states that “it is paramount that we reap its benefits.”
My skepticism towards AI is not unique, especially as a humanities student. The largest problem is that encouraging massive use of AI is environmentally detrimental. For one, the process of AI generation has intense energetic fluctuations, and the power grids that can withstand them are diesel-based. Second, scientists estimate that training just one model of AI requires power equivalent to powering 120 homes in the United States, thus releasing hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide.
Providing electricity for 120 homes is far more important and tangible than a hallucination machine. Some estimates have a ChatGPT inquiry at five times the energy consumption of a web browser. AI also uses a massive amount of water that is not always reused. All these environmental effects are further compounded by AI’s increasing demand, meaning new AI models are released frequently.
Barely halfway through August 2023, during my first semester at Tulane, President Mike Fitts published a message stating that AI has an “exciting promise” and can “multiply academic potential,” with the linked source being his own opinion piece in USA Today.
While easier to say now in hindsight, it is clear that Tulane was trying to cash in on an ever-expanding AI bubble as early as possible. They pretended to highlight its possible positive utilities for students other than plagiarism and misinformation. In addition, the message detailed Tulane’s embrace of AI, stating that the university established an “institute” and two centers dedicated to the technology.
If I ever had to contemplate whether or not to use AI, this information would make it feel plainly unethical for me to do so. As a native New Orleanian, it stings to see my university, which should lead the way in preserving our city and protecting the environment, encouraging AI usage with so little caution and regard for where its priorities should be.