"GenAI's dirty secret: It's set to create a mountainous increase in e-waste."
The study, which looks at the rate AI servers are being introduced to datacenters, claims that a realistic scenario indicates potential for rapid growth of e-waste from 2.6 kilotons each year in 2023 to between 400 kilotons and 2.5 million tons each year in 2030, when no waste reduction measures are considered.
The team "considered four scenarios with varying degrees of generative AI production and application, ranging from an aggressive scenario with widespread applications to a conservative scenario with more specific applications."
GenAI's dirty secret: It's set to create a mountainous increase in e-waste
