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Alumni Week: What if we are misjudging the CO₂ impact of AI?

Friday 9 October | 12:00-13:00 | Online

We often hear that AI is bad for the environment. Is that true, and how serious is it really? And how does that compare to our other digital tools? Is a ChatGPT message worse than eating a banana? And what if I make more video calls but use the car less often? If we were to have a CO₂ budget per person, how many digital choices would actually still fit within it? In this session, these questions (and more) will be answered.
Date
9 October 2026
Time
12:00 -13:00

Want to join? Sign up here straight away!

The session consists of four parts: 

1. (Generative) AI and CO₂: comparison between language models and other digital systems in terms of energy use and emissions. 
2. Digital and everyday impact: how AI relates to activities such as food, travel, heating and consumption. 
3. Perception and behaviour: why some impacts receive more attention than others (cognitive biases and cognitive dissonance). 
4. Influence and change: how norms shift and how education and knowledge sharing contribute to structural change. 

About Charlotte Lafage

Charlotte Lafage is a software engineer and lecturer in Medical Informatics at Amsterdam UMC. She is also a member of the Green Team of the Faculty of Medicine. With one foot in computer science and the other in sustainability initiatives, she investigates the ecological impact of digital technologies and raises awareness about this topic. AI and other digital tools evoke both enthusiasm and concern, and she strives to better understand their impact and share this knowledge with others.

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