Engineering Responsible AI

10 February 2025

Government must ensure that tech companies accurately report how much energy and water their data centres are using, according to a report just published by the National Engineering Policy Centre. Data centres can and should be designed to use less water and critical raw materials, but government must set the conditions for this as the AI Opportunities Action Plan is rolled out. 

The report, Engineering Responsible AI: foundations for environmentally sustainable AI, was developed by the Royal Academy of Engineering in partnership with the Institution of Engineering and Technology and BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT, under the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC).

The AI Opportunities Action Plan, recently endorsed by the UK government, aims to support the growth and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence to help "boost economic growth, provide jobs for the future and improve people's everyday lives". AI is already benefitting society by accelerating drug discovery, creating early warning weather systems and optimising energy consumption.

However, the proliferation of AI comes with heightened environmental risk. Data centres and the AI systems they host consume significant amounts of energy and water. Rapidly growing demand could have far-reaching effects, such as competition for renewable energy or drinking water sources. Both Google and Microsoft have reported year-on-year increases in data centre water consumption since 2020 and many of these water withdrawals come from sources of drinking water.   

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