“What About AI?”

Planning an Environmental Career Now

I welcome opportunities to advise people who are pursuing careers in the environmental field (as evidenced here, here, and here). I remember with genuine gratitude how many people kindly advised me when I was trying to figure out how to transition from a career on Wall Street to the environmental world. So when I have a chance to help like this, I always try to do my best.

These days, when I speak to people—both young and old—about careers, I hear a constant refrain. “What about AI? How will AI change the environmental field and my opportunity? How should AI influence my career planning?”*

Here are my thoughts on the matter.

* People also ask the important question: What are the likely environmental consequences of the AI boom? They will probably fall into two broad categories. On the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions will soar, and there will be significant impacts on biodiversity and water use from AI-related infrastructure buildout. On the other hand, AI will likely improve productivity, energy efficiency, and infrastructure planning, which could have hugely positive outcomes. I’m cautiously optimistic. We’ll have more to say about this in future issues.