How can you balance AI and sustainability?

How intertwined are AI and sustainability? This week, Technology now explores how we can do more than just use AI in a more sustainable and ethical way, we can harness it as a powerful tool to contribute to sustainability in other industries too. We ask which challenges are facing AI when it comes to sustainability and how can companies build strategies that support more efficient IT. Monica Batchelder, Chief Sustainability Officer at HPE, tells us more.

This is Technology Now, a weekly show from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Every week, hosts Michael Bird and Aubrey Lovell look at a story that's been making headlines, take a look at the technology behind it, and explain why it matters to organizations and what can be learnt from it.

Monica Batchelder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicabatchelder/

 

Sources cited in this week’s episode
Raw materials for a computer: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/der2024_en.pdf
AI water consumption: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about | https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271

Today I Learned:
Swedish Study: Bignardi, G., Wesseldijk, L.W., Mas-Herrero, E. et al. Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment. Nat Commun16, 2904 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8
Norwegian Study: Jacoby, N. et al. Cross-cultural work in music cognition challenges, insights, and recommendations. Music Percept. 37, 185–195 (2020). 

This Week In History:
Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, 2019. First M87 event horizon telescope results. I. The shadow of the supermassive black hole. arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.11238.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47873592
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/horse/the-evolution-of-horses