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The Artificial Intelligence Governance Gap: A Barrier to Intelligent Decarbonization

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Intelligent Decarbonisation

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Energy ((LNEN,volume 86))

Abstract

The notion of intelligent decarbonization (IDC) suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant part of the solution to climate change, thus resolving the contradiction between economic growth and sustainability preventing the transition towards a low-carbon economy. While technology plays a vital role in combating climate change, over-reliance on technology and AI, in particular, presents a tremendous risk. AI is not only attributed as a unique opportunity for efficiency with the potential to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, but also as a source of unprecedented cyber-physical threats and structural imbalances. Due to existing structural forces and technology determinism, those risks will be sustained in the course of AI’s development and adaptation. Thus, in addition to the existing climate action gap, IDC inherits AI’s emerging governance gap, which presents new barriers to the goal of decarbonization. To address those barriers effectively, as highlighted in the outlook of this chapter, IDC must balance the technological and political dimensions of IDC governance. However, only the latter has the potential to counter technology determinism and intervention on a structural level. A global IDC coordination mechanism guided by human- and environment-centric principles is needed to support the development of local IDC governance networks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Taihe Institute, 23/F, ShunMaiJinZuan Plaza, A-52 Southern East Third Ring Road. Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100022, China

    Thorsten Jelinek

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  1. Thorsten Jelinek
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Correspondence to Thorsten Jelinek .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cambridge CARES, University of Cambridge, Singapore, Singapore

    Oliver Inderwildi

  2. Cambridge CARES, University of Cambridge, Singapore, Singapore

    Markus Kraft

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Jelinek, T. (2022). The Artificial Intelligence Governance Gap: A Barrier to Intelligent Decarbonization. In: Inderwildi, O., Kraft, M. (eds) Intelligent Decarbonisation. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 86. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86215-2_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86215-2_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-86214-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-86215-2

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