環保團體擁抱AI，同時警告資料中心造成衝擊

瓦萊麗・沃爾科維奇（Valerie Volcovici）報導By Valerie Volcovici

華盛頓11月7日（路透）—— 全球環保團體正在運用人工智慧分析氣候資料、追蹤森林火災並統計瀕危野生動物；然而，他們也警告，這項技術正推動電力需求、用水量與溫室氣體排放激增。WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Environmental groups worldwide are using artificial intelligence to analyze climate data, track forest fires and count endangered wildlife – embracing a technology they also warn is driving a surge in electricity demand, water use and greenhouse-gas emissions.

這項矛盾正迫使這些組織為自己在推動打擊氣候變遷或保護自然資源任務時使用AI提出正當理由。The contradiction is forcing these organizations to justify their AI use in carrying out missions to combat climate change or protect natural resources.

美國非營利組織保育國際（Conservation International）AI負責人阿里・史旺森（Ali Swanson）表示：「我們承認AI可能伴隨環境成本，因此必須審慎思考該如何使用它。但在氣候與生物多樣性危機日益緊迫之際，AI能幫助我們加快行動，並更有效運用我們正在收集的資訊。」"We recognize that AI can come with environmental costs, and we need to be thoughtful about how we use it," said Ali Swanson, AI lead at the US nonprofit Conservation International. "But at a time when the climate and biodiversity crises are becoming more urgent, AI can help us move faster and make better use of the information we're collecting."

該組織最近開始使用AI評估衛星偵測到的熱點，並向柬埔寨偏遠且環境敏感地區的社區森林巡邏隊，即時發送可能發生野火的警報。The group recently started using AI to assess hotspots detected by satellites and send real-time alerts to community forest patrols about potential wildfires in remote and environmentally sensitive parts of Cambodia.

路透訪問了15個主要環保、保育與發展組織，了解它們使用AI的情況。所有受訪組織都表示，它們以某種形式使用這項技術，並對支撐AI運作的資料中心所造成的環境影響表達憂慮。這些資料中心滿是伺服器，可能需要大量電力，並需要用水冷卻。Reuters interviewed 15 major environmental, conservation and development organizations about their AI use. All said they used the technology in some form and expressed concern about the environmental impact of the data centers powering it. The centers, filled with servers, can require vast amounts of electricity, along with water for cooling.

對於在AI效益與龐大風險之間尋求平衡的個人、政府與產業而言，這是全球性的兩難。相關取捨很可能會在本月聯合國COP31氣候會議上受到關注，屆時主辦國土耳其將呼籲各國政府、企業和其他機構簽署一項承諾，列明確保AI以永續方式開發與部署的原則。It's a global dilemma for individuals, governments and industries balancing AI's benefits with its enormous risks. The tradeoffs likely will grab attention at the UN's COP31 climate conference this month, when host Turkey will call on governments, businesses and other institutions to sign a pledge outlining principles to ensure AI is developed and deployed sustainably.

聯合國秘書長安東尼歐・古特瑞斯（Antonio Guterres）希望主要AI公司公開揭露其系統的環境影響。UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants major AI companies to publicly disclose their systems' environmental impacts.

聯合國大學水、環境與健康研究所（United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health）研究人員估計，全球資料中心占地規模到2030年可能增加逾一倍，達到約為印尼巨型都市雅加達兩倍大的面積。Researchers at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health estimate the global data-center footprint could more than double by 2030, reaching a size about twice that of Jakarta, the Indonesian megalopolis.

與此同時，國際能源總署（International Energy Agency）估計，到2030年，全球資料中心每年將消耗約945太瓦時電力，產生相當於逾3億公噸二氧化碳的排放量。這是目前用電量的兩倍，約等於日本年度用電量。The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, estimates global data centers will consume about 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030, producing the equivalent of more than 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That's double current consumption and about equal to Japan's annual electricity use.

該機構也預測，全球資料中心用水量將從2023年的約5,600億公升（1,479億加侖），增加到2030年每年約1.2兆公升（3,170億加侖）。The agency also projects that global data center water consumption will increase from about 560 billion liters (147.9 billion gallons) in 2023 to about 1.2 trillion liters (317 billion gallons) annually by 2030.

包括微軟（Microsoft）、亞馬遜（Amazon）與Alphabet旗下Google在內的科技巨頭已通報排放量上升，部分原因與資料中心擴張有關，也引發外界質疑它們能否達成自身長期氣候目標。Technology giants including Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet's Google have reported rising emissions linked in part to data center expansion, raising questions about their ability to meet their own long-term climate goals.

亞馬遜告訴路透，由於公司採購低碳能源，並努力提高電力與用水效率，其人工智慧產品是最永續的產品之一。Amazon told Reuters its artificial-intelligence products were among the most sustainable due to the company's purchases of low-carbon energy and its efforts to use power and water efficiently.

微軟與Google未回應採訪請求。Microsoft and Google didn't respond to requests for comment.

曾被認為不可能的突破BREAKTHROUGHS ONCE THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE

許多接受路透訪問的組織認為，目前AI的效益大於成本，因為這項技術讓過去困難、昂貴或不可能的工作得以進行。Many of the organizations that spoke to Reuters believe AI's benefits currently outweigh its costs because the technology is enabling work that was previously difficult, expensive or impossible.

野生動物保育網絡（Wildlife Conservation Network）的合作夥伴、肯亞拯救大象組織表示，該組織正運用機器學習改善族群調查，並研究大象的溝通方式。Kenya's Save the Elephants, a partner of the Wildlife Conservation Network, said it is using machine learning to improve population surveys and study elephant communication.

該組織執行長法蘭克・波普表示，去年對肯亞最大保護區進行的一次空中調查產生約20萬張影像，需要9個人以人工方式花9個月審閱。如今，在輝達（Nvidia）GeForce繪圖平台上訓練的AI模型，可以在數小時內完成類似分析。Frank Pope, the group's chief executive, said an aerial survey of Kenya's largest protected area last year generated roughly 200,000 images that took nine people nine months to review manually. AI models trained on Nvidia's GeForce graphics platforms can now complete similar analyses in hours.

波普說：「結果令人眼界大開。我們發現，人工作業的調查漏掉了約三分之一的大象、約一半的斑馬和長頸鹿，以及四分之三的長角羚族群。」"The results have been eye-opening," Pope said. "We found that human surveys were missing about a third of the elephants, roughly half of zebras and giraffes, and three-quarters of oryx populations."

他說，更準確的野生動物資料能協助爭取保育資金。More accurate wildlife data can help secure financing for conservation, he said.

他說：「歸根究柢，這些工具讓自然可以被衡量，因此也可以成為投資標的。如果我們要大規模保育生物多樣性，這是一項關鍵轉變。」"Ultimately, these tools make nature measurable and therefore investable," he said. "That's a critical transformation, if we're going to conserve biodiversity at scale."

在已故保育指標人物珍・古德（Jane Goodall）創立的研究所，研究人員正利用AI將數十年來關於坦尚尼亞貢貝國家公園黑猩猩行為的田野筆記數位化。At the institute founded by the late conservation icon Jane Goodall, researchers are using AI to digitize decades of field notes about chimpanzee behavior in Tanzania's Gombe National Park.

這項計畫一度預估需要13至15年，因為這些紀錄是以當地基哈語和科學速記手寫而成。The project was once expected to take 13-15 years because the records were written by hand using the local Kiha language and scientific shorthand.

珍古德研究所（Jane Goodall Institute）保育科學副總裁莉蓮・平特亞（Lilian Pintea）表示，多虧與亞馬遜雲端運算服務（Amazon Web Services）共同開發的工具，這些筆記如今能在數分鐘內完成掃描、翻譯並結構化，將所需時間大幅縮短至約兩年。Thanks to a tool developed with Amazon Web Services, the notes can now be scanned, translated and structured in minutes, slashing the time needed to about two years, said Lilian Pintea, the Jane Goodall Institute's vice president of conservation science.

平特亞說，古德生前支持運用AI推進保育科學，前提是人類必須牢牢掌握AI的使用方式。During her lifetime, Pintea said, Goodall supported the use of AI to advance conservation science, provided people remained firmly in control of how it was used.

平特亞說：「AI技術應被視為以人為中心的工具。」"AI technology should be seen as tools which are human-centered," Pintea said.

限制環境影響LIMITING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

一些組織正在試驗各種方法，以限制自身使用AI造成的環境影響。Some organizations are experimenting with ways to limit the environmental impact of their AI use.

運用AI加速氣候與環境分析的研究團體世界資源研究所（World Resources Institute，WRI）表示，該組織限制生成影片和影像等資源密集型應用，同時將AI查詢結果快取起來，讓相同搜尋不必重新處理。The World Resources Institute (WRI), a research group that uses AI to accelerate its climate and environmental analyses, said it limits resource-intensive applications such as generating videos and images, while caching AI query results so identical searches don't need to be reprocessed.

總部位於美國的大自然保護協會（Nature Conservancy）也採取類似做法。該協會使用AI分析商業漁船拍攝的影片，以取得不同物種漁獲數量的資訊。但該組織資深科學家維也納・薩科曼諾（Vienna Saccomanno）表示，協會不是把大量影片上傳到集中式資料中心，而是安裝AI驅動的數位攝影機，在船上處理資訊，藉此降低能源使用與資料傳輸需求。The US-based Nature Conservancy has adopted a similar approach. It uses AI to analyze video captured on commercial fishing vessels for information on how many fish of different species they catch. But instead of uploading huge numbers of videos to centralized data centers, it has installed AI-powered digital cameras to process information aboard the vessels, reducing energy use and data-transfer requirements, said Vienna Saccomanno, a senior scientist at the organization.

她說：「要讓邊緣運算成為可能，需要大量工程投入。為了同時減少我們的碳足跡，並提供這些永續性洞察，這麼做是值得的。」"It takes a lot of engineering to make computation on the edge possible," she said. "This was worth it to reduce both our carbon footprint and deliver these sustainability insights."

綠色和平國際（Greenpeace International）表示，它也使用一些AI工具，主要是因為其仰賴的軟體平台包含AI功能。Greenpeace International said it, too, uses some AI tools, mainly because software platforms it relies upon include AI features.

該組織表示，它正實施內部準則，強調透明度、人類監督與「有意識」地使用AI。但由於AI的環境影響，該組織寧願避開這項技術，並正強力反對資料中心擴建。It's imposing internal guidelines emphasizing transparency, human oversight and "intentional" AI use, the group said. But it would prefer to sidestep the technology due to its environmental impacts and is pushing back hard on the data center buildout.

該組織氣候與能源倡議者凱特琳・薛英・吳（Katrin Xueying Wu）表示：「其他組織在問如何負責任地使用AI，而綠色和平則在問，一開始是否有必要興建這麼多龐大的資料中心。」"While other organizations are asking how to use AI responsibly, Greenpeace is asking whether it's necessary to build all these massive data centers in the first place," said Katrin Xueying Wu, a climate and energy campaigner with the organization.

其他團體如今則認為，AI對有效推動環境行動至關重要。Other groups now see AI as vital to effective environmental activism.

總部位於英國的國際鳥盟（BirdLife International）首席科學家史都華・布查特（Stuart Butchart）表示：「拯救地球是我們的工作。如果我們能運用AI，以手上有限的資源更有效率、更有效地做到這件事，那麼我們就必須認真面對這種可能性。」"It's our job to save the planet. If we can do that more effectively and efficiently with the limited resources we've got by using AI, then we have to seriously engage in that possibility," said Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at UK-based BirdLife International.

「如果我們不這麼做，某種程度上就是怠忽職守。」"If we don't do it, then we're sort of being derelict in our duty."

（Additonal補充報導：倫敦Simon Jessop、布魯塞爾Kate Abnett；編輯：Richard Valdmanis、Alexandra Zavis）(Additonal reporting by Simon Jessop in London and Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Alexandra Zavis)