MIT AI Risk Repository · Risk Sub-Category · 11.05.05

Environmental harms

Category: Societal System Harms

Open the MIT Risk Navigator All entries from Shelby2023

Description

depletion or contamination of natural resources, and damage to built environments... that may occur throughout the lifecycle of digital technologies [170, 237] from “crale (mining) to usage (consumption) to grave (waste)”

From Sociotechnical Harms of Algorithmic Systems: Scoping a Taxonomy for Harm Reduction (Shelby2023), as extracted by the MIT AI Risk Repository (CC BY 4.0).

Classification

Domain: 6. Socioeconomic & Environmental
Subdomain: 6.6 Environmental harm
Causal entity: AI
Intent: Unintentional
Timing: Post-deployment

Subdomain definition: The development and operation of AI systems causing environmental harm, such as through energy consumption of data centers, or material and carbon footprints associated with AI hardware.

Real-world incidents in this subdomain

5 Jun 2024xAI Allegedly Operates Unpermitted Methane Turbines in Memphis to Power Supercomputer Colossus to Train Grok

Browse all incidents in this subdomain

How other frameworks describe this risk

Excessive water consumption
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Electronic waste
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Natural resource depletion
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Excessive landfill
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Biodiversity loss
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Carbon emissions
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Excessive energy consumption
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)
Pollution
A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

Other entries from Shelby2023

Representational Harms Risk Category · 1.1
Stereotyping social groups Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Demeaning social groups Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Erasing social groups Risk Sub-Category · 1.3
Alienating social groups Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Denying people the opportunity to self-identify Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Reifying essentialist categories Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Allocative Harms Risk Category · 1.1
Opportunity loss Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Economic loss Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
Quality-of-Service Harms Risk Category · 1.3
Alienation Risk Sub-Category · 1.3