In this PhD project you will do social research on one of the biggest challenges of using generative AI (such as Chat GPT): its ecological footprint. For instance, training AI language models consumes a lot of power and data centres require large amounts of cooling water. How are these problems currently addressed, and how can we support environmental justice in generative AI? You will do this research as part of the pioneering Feminist Generative AI Lab, which offers an interdisciplinary environment combining artificial intelligence, design, and social sciences.
Job description We invite applications for a fully-funded PhD position in the social sciences, focusing on developing a theory of environmental justice in generative AI. Applicants are invited to prepare and execute an independent PhD project that can include the empirical analysis of debates, practices or power dynamics around the ecological footprint of generative AI. The research should lead to theories, concepts and principles for design and activism in line with data feminism or feminist AI principles.
Research Context The environmental costs of online large-scale generative AI usage are increasingly recognised. Concerns include carbon emission and energy usage associated with training large language models (LLMs); cooling water required by data centers; and lithium mining to power our devices. In response, various stakeholders have proposed visions and solutions for sustainability in generative AI. Some visions are directed towards users, e.g. limiting user queries, while others call for structural change, e.g. addressing consumer cultures. However, environmental justice concerns are rarely addressed. Environmental justice is about finding just and fair alternatives to the inequalities that affect how the ecological space and resources of a finite planet are shared.
As a starting point, the study empirically investigates imaginaries and practices around the environmental costs of generative AI. It can ask how environmentally friendly generative AI is shaped in discussions, debates and practices. What are the consequences for different groups? How are the relations between technology and ecological decline framed? Which assumptions about ecology and society underly debates in this field? Such insights can inform a feminist theory of environmental justice in the area of generative AI, and form the groundwork for design and activism.
Methodologies and Activities The research can be conducted through case studies, ethnographic research, discourse analysis, digital methods, participative methods, design research or combinations. Activities will include:
- Design an independent PhD project
- Conduct fieldwork, analyse results
- Translate results into theoretical and practical lessons
- Participate in the ESSB graduate school’s training program
- Engage and develop activities with the staff and other PhDs in the Feminist Generative AI Lab
- Publish and present research results on workshops and conferences
- Communicate research findings to a broader audience