AI could create 1,000 times more 'e-waste' within the next six years

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The rapid rise of generative AI is expected to add to the growing mountain of ewaste - obsolete electronic equipment - and the environmental catastrophe it creates.

The technology, which is already under scrutiny for its massive energy cost and copyright theft issues, requires upgrades to hardware and chip technology, which means more and more electronic equipment is becoming obsolete.

Ewaste can contain toxic metals including lead and chromium, as well as waste valuable metals such as gold, silver, platinum, nickel and palladium.

The mining and processing of these metals demand massive amounts of energy and inflict irreversible damage on ecosystems, leading to deforestation, habitat destruction, and water pollution and reflects a staggering waste of our planet’s precious resources. READ MORE: Eight chilling confessions of sick AI pervert who encouraged fantasies of paedophiles all over world The study authors say that implementing strategies to reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle out-of-date equipment from data centres could reduce e-waste generation by as much as 86%.