It's the inescapable buzzword of the decade: AI. Some of us have adopted it with open arms, using large language models (LLMS) to help write grocery lists and summarise meetings notes. Others are reluctant, preferring to stick to what they know.

Either way, both camps have likely entertained the potential dark side of AI: a universe where robots develop beyond our control and eventually make humans redundant. However, this picture, straight from a science-fiction film, is far from the true darkness that swirls around AI and it's impacts on society.

What could be more concerning you ask? Well, AI and LLMs are stealing from our creative industries and cooking our planet in the process.

AIs are trained using the literary, auditory and visual works of our creative industries

I'm sure you've seen how quickly and easily AI systems can churn out a five-day itinerary to the Greek Island of Paros or produce a stylised image of dessert. But how?

First we need to understand how AI works. In essence, it is a model that ingests large amounts of data, analysing for patterns and similarities, and then using these patterns to help construct a response when prompted. In order for AI to work, there has to a substantial amount of data for it to learn from first.

Many AI systems have full access to the internet; they are able to read and process almost all the content available on the web. So, when you ask an AI for that five-day Paros itinerary, AI is able to produce an answer because it has trained itself on countless articles from independent travel bloggers, travel journalists and travel guides.

Any writer knows that it takes hours – if not days – to create a well-researched, first-person guide. And writers do so in the hope that someone will visit their website and an audience will grow. It is absolutely devastating to know that AI has read through your content, and is now sharing your ideas and words with people without your consent, without compensation – and without anyone needing to visit your work directly.

It is a similar story when looking at AI image generation. Many AI image tools will ingest the works of photographers, sketch artists, painters and other visual artists and then use their work to help create it's own imagery. Unique visual styles and personalised aesthetics can be taken and appropriated without the original artists' knowledge.

Some will argue that an AI learning from our creative industries is no different to you observing someone's painting and then recreating it yourself at home. An actual example someone shared with me when defending AI. But of course there's one big reason why the situations are entirely different: profit.

Many LLMs and AIs charge customers monthly subscription fees for access to their repositories of knowledge. Knowledge that doesn't belong to them.

"AIs are profiting extensively from the cultural contributions of our creative industries, which they have taken without permission, and without providing royalties or compensation."

We know our creative industries are already drastically underfunded and many creative people struggle to make a living from their pursuits. Did you know that the average annual income for a published author in Australia is just $18,200? For professional artists, it's only slightly higher at $23,200. To put it into perspective, a salaried fast-food service worker makes around $42,000 annually.

For many creatives, we continue to think, write, sculpt and create despite these barriers in the hope that our audience will find us. That readers and viewers will find our websites, and we can grow an audience. But with AI sharing our work without anyone needing to come to our spaces directly, what hope do we have?

It's a snake eating it's own tail. AI needs the creative industries to learn from and train with, but it might just send them bankrupt in the process. Unless something changes.

AI uses more resources than our planet can feasibly sustain

Our current electricity usage as a society is already beyond what the Earth can sustain – at least, if we wish to continue to live comfortably on this planet, for us, and our children. And AI uses far more.

"Did you know that a simple search like "how long do you boil an egg for?" takes 10 times the amount of energy via AI compared to regular search?"

And when you look at AI image generation, it's even worse. According to an article from MIT University, just one AI image uses as much power as charging your phone.

When you consider there are over 19 million users of image generation AI Midjourney, 100 million weekly users of ChatGPT, and millions of people casually sending dozens of AI images of cute animals or fruits with superimposed eyes every hour... it starts to make you feel sick.

75 per cent of the world's global emissions are caused by fossil fuels. To be specific, this relates to burning petrol to power cars, refining oil to turn into plastic and burning coal, gas and oil for electricity. By far the biggest contributor to this 75 per cent is from electricity generation.

Our current levels of electricity production are already more than what the planet can handle. But with AI slowly being integrated into every phone's daily processes, our search engines, and even into word processing software, AI's significantly higher energy demands threaten to blow past the danger levels we're already at.

Most large-scale AI is powered by data centres  – and they have a heavy environmental impact. Not just in their energy consumption, but also due to the materials required to make them. According to the UN, a 2kg computer requires 800kg of raw material. And the chips and GPUs in these computers are created using rare earth elements, like cobalt, which are more often than not sourced in environmentally-destructive ways.

Then there's the waste issue: data centres produce a lot of it. The electronic waste from these centres often contains toxic heavy metals. They require a huge amount of water to be cooled. According to the UN: "AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of six million."

In this booming industry, where there is a new AI introduced each day and more and more companies powering their processes through AI, the demand for more and bigger data centres is only going to grow.

It's about more than just numbers, it's about our survival

AI isn't going to destroy us using mechanised robots with guns. Rather its doing it slowly, and right in front of our eyes.

I'm often shaken to my core by how complacent many people are, preferring not to think about big issues it because it's uncomfortable. It's easy to ignore, especially when it's just numbers and statistics. But sticking our collective heads in the sand won't stop all of us from feeling the very real impacts.

We're feeling many of them right now.

The creative industries are already some of the most vulnerable. These industries are shrinking, a process that was only exacerbated by COVID. The opportunities for those without privilege declines every year.

"If we allow technology to continue to take from writers and artists, without giving anything in return, what art will be left for our future generations? Just a burnt out planet devoid of beauty."

The impacts of the climate crisis are arguably more visible. Wondering why fresh fruits and vegetables are so expensive? It's because the increased droughts and floods mean farmers can't grow as they used to. Council rates going up again? Yes, its because the cost of repairs after more frequent and damaging storms . Can't afford your insurance? Insurance companies are pricing in our future of frequent severe and damaging weather events.

Did you know rising temperatures is linked to an increase in ear infections and auditory health issues? That it can increase UTIs? Even the occurrence of pandemics like COVID can be linked to climate change?

It's easy to say that it's the fault of big business (which it is), but passing the buck to them without doing anything to hold them to account if not going to change the status quo. Does this mean you have to stand out the front of an office with a picket sign? Of course not. But there are practical and much easier things you can do that will have an even bigger impact.

So, what's the answer?

We've already opened Pandora's Box. AI is here to stay.

But if we want AI to have a sustainable future – one that nurtures creativity rather than strangling it, and one that inspires climate innovation rather than poisoning our Earth – society needs to treat it mindfully.

The companies behind AI and LLMs have a responsibility to factor ethics into their business model. That starts with compensation for creatives and producing greener data centres.

"Individually, the best we can do is educate ourselves."

Think before you generate. If you're not sure if an AI company is sourcing its energy sustainably, don't use it. Switch your at home energy company to a green energy provider, and ask if your work can do the same. Inform your friends and family of what's going on in the world. And most importantly, ask questions.

Is a new software company pitching to your company to switch to their email software? A sales assistant trying to sell you a pair of headphones? An insurance company calling you with a car insurance deal? Ask them what their sustainability policies are or if they're using green energy. If enough of us ask the questions at the bottom, eventually the message will filter its way to the top.

And maybe, the next time you need a travel itinerary, perhaps visit the website of the blogger that has poured their soul into their content – rather than using the AI that appropriated it.