Exclusive Video: Is generative AI useful for sustainability?

The future of sustainability is driven by digital. This is one of the key points that organisations are beginning to understand as more Sustainability LIVE conferences unfold. 

One of the technologies that everyone is talking about at the moment is yet to present its full potential of climate impact, which is why it’s so important to watch the conversation among The Future of Generative AI panel. Featuring:

• Michelle Davies, Global Head of Sustainability at EY Law
• Sandeep Chandna, Chief Sustainability Officer at Tech Mahindra
• Jillian Moore, Sustainability and Global Advisory Lead at Avanade

“I personally am very, very passionate about the point where humans meet technology and what it's going to mean for the human race going forward and how all that comes together,” says Moore. 

“We are also hugely pivoting around gen AI this year. No surprise to anybody, particularly given Microsoft's focus on it, but I think there is a very interesting question around what that means for human beings and how we embrace that and where we go with it.”

AI is one of the latest considerations for a lot of companies, but for an organisation like Tech Mahindra, this forms the everyday conversation among its leaders. Chandna addresses the conversation in terms of its implication on the climate, specifically the way that Scope emissions data can be leveraged for change. 

“All of us know how the data for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 is looked at. We were also discussing offshore and [looking at Scope 3], how we are really calculating the data,” says Chandna.

“Say we [take] an example of employee commuting. So, if there are about one lakh employees who are working for a company and you have to look for their Scope 3 employee commute data. One day that person would be coming on a bicycle, the next day in a car, or maybe another day with a shared pool. Every day there is going to be a bit of change. And with this humongous data, how are you going to estimate? If you are making a decision on that estimated data, look at the complexity of the whole problem.” 

This comment also sparked input from Moore, who delves into the idea of ethics and regulations, touching upon how some scenarios could look with generative AI in place. 

“I think back to the question of how it enables, though the point about ethics and regulation is super key. But there's also a very fine balancing act between that and innovation and driving new things,” says Moore. 

One of the things I get fascinated about is instances of innovation in history, where to move things forward, things that we would consider unethical have probably happened—If you look at how vaccines were developed for instance and some of the ways they were tested. But, we've got to look at what we can do with AI and gen AI and say, right, at which point are we concerned about this because [if] the quality of the data is bad, we don't understand the outputs.” 

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For more insights into Sustainability - check out the latest edition of Sustainability Magazine and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn & Twitter

Other magazines that may be of interest - EV Magazine | Energy Digital

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Sign up to the The Global Sustainability & ESG Awards 2024, coming to London on the 11th September 2024. 

Net Zero LIVE will be hosted live from the QEII Centre, London on the 6th and 7th of March, and streamed globally via our virtual event platform Brella. Net Zero LIVE London will feature four LIVE themes, incorporating Sustainability LIVE, EV LIVE, Scope 3 LIVE, and Energy LIVE to deliver a holistic conference and exhibition experience with opportunities to connect with like-minded peers and actively contribute to crafting a sustainable future. Following Net Zero LIVE, viewers can also sign up for Sustainability LIVE Dubai and Singapore. 

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