Can Advertising Square Its AI Enthusiasm with the Tech’s Bottomless Need for Energy?

The advertising industry is funnelling billions of dollars into AI. It is the future, so we’re told, a wellspring of efficiency, insight and creativity. But, boy, is it hungry. According to one analysis, the 1.5 million AI servers being shipped by Nvidia could consume 85.4 terawatt hours of energy by 2027, as much as a country like the Netherlands uses annually.  The International Energy Agency thinks that by 2026 the world’s data centres in their entirety will chow down on 1,000 terawatt hours’ of energy per year.

Small wonder that last week, Google became the latest tech giant to turn to nuclear energy, signing a deal to power and cool its data centres with small nuclear reactors and last month Microsoft made a deal that would see the re-opening of the notorious Three Mile Island. 

From a sustainability perspective, this news is mixed. Nuclear is seen as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuel, but it also raises questions about waste and safety. It also illustrates the sheer demand for power that AI generates, the broader carbon footprint of creating the infrastructure to support AI, and the fossil fuel required to bridge the gap until nuclear is available - not to mention the potential continued use of fossil fuels as demand continues to grow.

Squaring the advertising industry’s desire to capitalise on the AI revolution with the desire to build a sustainable business seems like a tall order. So how will we navigate it?

The shift to mass adoption of AI is inevitable, given how quickly it’s evolving and the amount of time and money being invested in it. Soon, it will be an integral part of most business operations. But it can't, and shouldn't, mean we shelve sustainability efforts or take steps backwards. 

 

With this in mind, energy expansion isn’t a surprise if you’re paying attention to the energy hungry needs of proliferating AI tools, so Google isn't alone – Microsoft, Amazon and many others are doing the same.

 

We can only hope that they have considered the full life cycle impact of nuclear energy and long-term waste, as part of a planned diverse energy strategy. However, the question we need to ask is have they already done everything in their power to REDUCE the need for this additional energy in the first place? What responsible policies, processes and best practices have they championed and embedded across their own businesses, with their clients and with their suppliers? 

 

It seems unlikely, and this is where all businesses should be focusing their energy before taking up even more finite resources in the context of a climate and nature crisis. Governments, businesses and marketers collectively need to work to solve the environmental challenges this technological evolution presents.

Before we wander off down the moral maze of this one - and this is a mess of complex interconnected ethical questions - it’s worth being realistic about the choices that our industry can make. 

 

Advertising, like almost every other part of the economy, must not avoid using Gen AI if it wants to stay relevant and competitive. And that usage is going to accelerate at an eye watering speed. 

 

Even before this new technology emerged, we were being told by respected scientists that nuclear was needed as part of the energy mix to get to net zero.

 

Now, to power the enormous server centres that facilitate AI - used in advertising and everything else - we’re going to need more clean energy. This means much more nuclear. 

 

If we don’t like this reality, as a society, we need our governments (nationally and internationally) to intervene and set rules that cover things like how much energy a sector can use, or whether or not a business can generate its own nuclear power.  

 

As with so much to do with the sustainable transition, the biggest impact for agencies lies not with their operational choices (although these do matter) but with their influence on society through the work they do. 

 

I think the bigger question here is whether advertising agencies get involved in that public debate. What do you think? See you in the moral maze to discuss it. 

 

AI, used well, can help advertising to work smarter, not harder. This is how we also need to view its energy demands. Data centres are the largest source of energy demand growth in Ireland, reportedly using a fifth of all our country's electricity. 

They are creating enormous energy requirements at a time when we ultimately need to reduce our overall energy demand, while transitioning to renewable energy. In this transition, everyone needs to reprioritise. The big question is, if we are harnessing AI to create compelling advertising at a time of climate crisis, what kind of creative work is worthy of this extra energy demand? Our exploration or use of AI should be to inform work that helps us to avoid complete climate breakdown, creating new ways of viewing, living and sharing this world in a way that joyfully sustains life.