U.S. government agency sounds alarm on AI's toll on environment, humanity

Generative AI's impact on the environment is still deeply understudied, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and its human effects are just as unclear.

In the latest of several AI technology assessments conducted by the GAO — a nonpartisan agency that provides audits and evaluations to Congress, executive agency leaders, and the general public upon request — the legislative office outlined multiple human and environmental risks posed by the tech's unhampered development and widespread use. "Generative AI may displace workers, help spread false information, and create or elevate risks to national security," the report reads. Threats to data privacy and cybersecurity, the use of biased systems, and a lack of accountability could have unintended effects on society, culture, and people, writes the GAO.

And just as pressing is the need to determine how much of an energy drain AI's training (and ongoing use) presents and how we can mitigate it.

"Training and using generative AI can result in substantial energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water usage," the GAO asserts. "The environmental effects of using generative AI have received less attention than the effects of training it... Definitive statements about these risks and challenges are difficult to make because generative AI is rapidly evolving, and private developers do not disclose some key technical information."

The lack of data from AI's developers is increasingly stymying environmental research, the GAO explains, hampering the evaluation of generative AI and its use cases, including those designed "for good." And existing policy actions, the GAO found, may not effectively address the human impact of generative AI over generations.

The Trump administration, and controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk, have not shied away from implementing artificial intelligence in the federal government, including new memoranda focused on accelerating the use of a "high-impact" American-made AI system. On April 24, Trump signed an executive order creating an Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force, which will facilitate AI adoption among educators and K-12 students.

The AI order followed earlier executive orders rescinding the Biden administration's commitments to AI oversight. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have both said they want to maintain the country's "global dominance" in artificial intelligence and push back against "excessive regulation" of the technology, declining to sign onto to international AI agreements, including the recent Paris summit declaration on inclusive AI — the United Kingdom also chose not to sign on.

Trump's anti-climate science agenda has careened forward, bolstered by the president's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and slashing of federal science grants and research funding, including allotments to federal agencies like NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). Meanwhile, Trump has aligned himself (and received funding from) some of AI's biggest proponents, including xAI's Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.