AI might help meet COP28 climate targets - but at what cost?
Before long, the shortest route has the strongest chemical signature, helping other ants learn to use it, said Tshilidzi Marwala, an artificial intelligence engineer and rector of United Nations University.
The «ant-based algorithm» and other learning systems, studied by data scientists, are now being used to reduce inefficiencies in manufacturing processes — one way to cut planet-warming emissions.
«Today we have ant-based artificial intelligence algorithms, because (they) are quite efficient,» said Marwala, who is also a U.N. Under-Secretary General, in an interview at the COP28 U.N.
climate summit in Dubai.
From making solar panels work better to more accurately predicting weather, machine learning tools could accelerate action on everything from reducing fossil fuel emissions to preparing for disaster threats.
With the promise — and risks — of AI quickly moving up the political agenda, COP28 will be the first U.N. climate summit to hold high-level discussions on use of the technology for climate action.
AI IN SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS?
The meeting, which runs until mid-December, has seen a flurry of new emissions-cutting pledges, with 118 nations on Saturday promising to triple the world's renewable energy by 2030.
AI could help turn some of them into a reality, Marwala said.
For instance, IT can be embedded within solar energy systems to maximise absorption, by helping solar panels determine the optimum position to catch the sun's rays, much like sunflowers do.
Machine learning can also help to more accurately predict climate-driven impacts like floods and wildfires, with powerful computers testing likely scenarios at a fine scale.
But tech experts warn that a severe lack of data and AI tools in developing
