ana valdivia
@anavaldi.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1K following 89 posts
Lecturer in AI, Government & Policy at the OII (University of Oxford) | Associate Editor at Big Data & Society | Investigating the environmental impacts of AI | Writing a book on 'AI supply chains' https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/ana-valdivia
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anavaldi.bsky.social
🌱 On October 29th, we will be at the Utrecht University discussing the challenges of doing quantitative estimations in the context of AI environmental impacts, organised by the greening the digital society group.

Come and join us!

www.uu.nl/en/events/gd...
GDS Symposium: Measuring the (un)sustainability of the AI industry
The enormous environmental impact of AI products and services has become a major concern, but how can we exactly measure this impact?
www.uu.nl
Reposted by ana valdivia
olivia.science
Without Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) in psychology (doi.org/10.31234/osf...) we risk the following:

1️⃣ misunderstanding statistical models, thinking correlation is causation;

2️⃣ confusing statistical models and cognitive models, undermining theory;

3️⃣ going against stated open science norms.

4/
The three aforementioned related themes sketched out in this
section, will play out in the AI-social psychology relationships we
will examine — namely:
a. misunderstanding of the statistical modelswhich constitute contemporary AI, leading to inter alia thinking that
correlation implies causation (Guest, 2025; Guest & Martin, 2023, 2025a, 2025b; Guest, Scharfenberg, & van Rooij,
2025; Guest, Suarez, et al., 2025);
b. confusion between statistical versus cognitive models
when it comes to their completely non-overlapping roles
when mediating between theory and observations (Guest
& Martin, 2021; Morgan & Morrison, 1999; Morrison &
Morgan, 1999; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021);
c. anti-open science practices, such as closed source code,
stolen and opaque collection and use of data, obfuscated
conflicts of interest, lack of accountability for models’
architectures, i.e. statistical methods and input-output
mappings are not well documented (Barlas et al., 2021;
Birhane & McGann, 2024; Birhane et al., 2023; Crane,
2021; Gerdes, 2022; Guest & Martin, 2025b; Guest, Suarez,
et al., 2025; Liesenfeld & Dingemanse, 2024; Liesenfeld et
al., 2023; Mirowski, 2023; Ochigame, 2019; Thorne, 2009). Being able to detect and counteract all these three together comprises the bedrock of skills in research methods in a time when AI
is used uncritically (see Table 1). The inverse: not noticing these
are at play, or even promoting them, could be seen as engaging in
questionable research practises (QRPs; Brooker & Allum, 2024;
Neoh et al., 2023; Rubin, 2023). Therefore, in the context of critical AI literacy for social psychology, and indeed cognitive, neuro-,
and psychological sciences in general, the three points above serve
as totemic touchstones, as litmus tests for checking somebody’s
literacy in AI (Guest, 2024; Guest & Martin, 2021, 2025a, 2025b; Guest, Scharfenberg, & van Rooij, 2025; Guest, Suarez, et al.,
2025; Suarez et al., 2025; van Rooij & Baggio, 2021; van Rooij
& Guest, 2025; van Rooij et al., 2024b). To wit, if somebody is
able to minimally articulate these three related issues, how they
manifest, and why they matter to our science, we can rest easy
they know the basics of how to critically evaluate AI products in
science.
anavaldi.bsky.social
🌏 "A closer examination into the supply chain capitalism of AI unveils environmental harms such as water struggles, which have not been considered by the algorithmic harms and resistance literature before."

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
anavaldi.bsky.social
UN Water and Energy nexus:

"In a recent study, it was
estimated that, as a result of the global demand for artificial intelligence, between 4.2 billion and 6.6 billion m3 of water will be required by 2027."

docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/60/30
Document Viewer
docs.un.org
Reposted by ana valdivia
restofworld.org
“In the past, they killed and expelled us,” a tribe leader said. Now, “they make us invisible.”

TikTok is investing in a $10 billion data center in Brazil. An Indigenous group who says the project is being built on their land is trying to stop it, claiming they were not consulted on the project
Indigenous group in Brazil takes TikTok to court over planned data center
The Anacé Indigenous community is going to court to stop a planned TikTok data center they say is being built on their land.
restofworld.org
anavaldi.bsky.social
🌱 The AI supply chains:

"This means looking at the environmental impacts of AI at every stage of the supply chain, from mining the minerals used in the electronics hardware, to the emissions associated with the use of the models, to the disposal of hardware"

www.bera.ac.uk/blog/the-env...
The environmental ethics of Generative AI: Artificial intelligence or real ignorance?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly present in debates about education, including at policy level. Earlier this year, the UK Education Secretary (with responsibility for education in...
www.bera.ac.uk
Reposted by ana valdivia
pastoretta.bsky.social
Just l'he acabat ara. Un llibre imprescindible!
Reposted by ana valdivia
rasmuskleis.bsky.social
"Tech isn't about innovation, it's about power and networking chokepoints for power."

Strong thread below (on an interesting FT opinion piece)

And all very aligned with e.g. Nieborg & Poell's interesting research on institutional platform power journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by ana valdivia
Reposted by ana valdivia
anavaldi.bsky.social
experts have advised against scope 2 MB emissions as this is a misleading metric, and I could not find the justification of using it in your paper.
Reposted by ana valdivia
emollick.bsky.social
We now have some data on the environmental impact per AI prompt:

Gemini: 0.00024 kWh & 0.26 mL water

ChatGPT: 0.0003 kWh & 0.38 mL

...the same energy as one Google search in 2008 & 6 drops of water. Seems to be improving, too: Google reports a 33x drop in energy use per prompt in a year.

But...
anavaldi.bsky.social
"The deputy prime minister has been hit with a legal challenge after she overruled a local council to approve a hyperscale datacentre on green belt land by the M25 in Buckinghamshire."

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Angela Rayner hit with legal challenge over datacentre on green belt land
Exclusive: Campaigners complain no environmental assessment made for 90MW Buckinghamshire facility
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by ana valdivia
ox.ac.uk
'It is easier to take action when you know you are not acting alone.'

Collective action on climate is crucial. Scientists play an important role in driving change, write @biology.ox.ac.uk's Dr Tristram Wyatt and Cardiff University's Aaron Thierry ⬇️ #OxfordClimate
A person holding a protest sign that reads "WE NEED A CHANGE" at a climate action demonstration, smiling, with other demonstrators in the background, overlay text includes a reference to the University of Oxford and a title "How scientists can contribute to social movements and climate action."