The Ecological Impact of AI

What you'll learn — competencies

Pass each module's knowledge check to earn these competencies (view in the competency framework ↗):

• The hidden footprint
• The power bill: training and inference
• Carbon and the honest counter-fact
• Water, land and the neighbours
• Hardware, minerals and e-waste
• The Jevons trap
• Data centers in space
• Night sky, astronomy and Kessler
• Weighing the tradeoffs

Badges you can earn

Complete each module to collect these badges. Click any badge for details.

Footprint Finder Grid Aware Carbon Counter Water Watcher Mineral Tracker Jevons Wise Orbital Thinker Sky Guardian Balanced Verdict Eyes on the Planet

Course modules

1. Section 01: The Footprint Nobody Sees
2. Section 02: The Power Bill: Training, Inference & the Grid
3. Section 03: Carbon, and the Honest Counter-Fact
4. Section 04: Thirsty Machines: Water, Land & the Neighbours
5. Section 05: The Hardware Mountain: Chips, Minerals & E-Waste
6. Section 06: Does Efficiency Save Us? The Jevons Trap
7. Section 07: Escape to Orbit: The Case for Data Centers in Space
8. Section 08: The New Costs of the Sky: Night Sky, Astronomy & Kessler
9. Section 09: Weighing It: Tradeoffs Without a Verdict

Suggested pre-requisites

Pre-requisites are recommendations, not gates — you can enroll in any course at any time.

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