Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series

“AI and Climate: Superpowers for Good or Drivers of Destruction?” a Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk by Tim Profeta, Professor of the Practice, Middlebury College, and Senior Fellow, Duke Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability and Vee Syengo ‘25.5, Computer Science and English double major at Middlebury College.

As we grapple with the possibilities and growth of AI, we are also confronted with incredible energy and resource needs. Are those needs set in stone? How do we understand them? Could this increased energy demand actually transform our systems to adopt cleaner technologies more quickly to meet carbon targets, or will they lock us into impossible climate scenarios? In this discussion, Profeta and Syengo will share their work from the micro scale of Middlebury, where Syengo has been researching how to make our College data needs more sustainable, and at the macro level, where Profeta has been assessing how to approach load flexibility and grid transitions across the US.