From J. Lewis, London, UK
The United Nations has urged users of AI chatbots to avoid niceties to save water and energy. To me, this advice is futile on two levels (13 June, p 11).
Firstly, asking users to act against the very impulses that this technology is designed to evoke seems somewhat akin to the “carbon footprint” messaging around climate change, in that it shifts the burden onto the end user, rather than targeting the source of the problem (in this case, the tech companies themselves).
Secondly, regardless of the evils that competing hyperscale data centres wreak on the environment and workers, it is undeniable that AI technology has its uses, and the “human” feel contributes to those. I have recently been using a chatbot to talk me through some of the more challenging elements of a home technology project, and the sense of camaraderie when my AI companion helps me solve a knotty problem – illusory though I know it is – does take the edge off of a rather lonely and often frustrating pursuit.
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