Presentation short abstract

This presentation examines public knowledge about the environmental impacts of GenAI. Through qualitative research using creative methods, the presentation unpacks how 'new frontiers' of technology reproduce extractive socio-ecological relations and mask resource-intensive infrastructures of GenAI.

Presentation long abstract

In this time of rampant misinformation and disinformation, it can be difficult for members of the public to come to grips with the environmental toll of generative AI and associated technologies. Critical AI literacy is therefore an important contributor to public awareness of the impacts of generative AI on environments and ecosystems. Very little research has been published on what the public currently knows about the environmental impacts of these emergent technologies, and how this knowledge may be affecting their decisions about use of these applications. To help meet this gap, this presentation shares findings from qualitative research undertaken in mid-2025. The conceptual underpinnings of the study brings together elemental and more-than-human theory with critical studies of AI and data centres. The use of creative methods in the workshops helped to conceptualise the supply chains of GenAI including data centres, e-waste, water and energy usage, while offering space for futuring beyond extractive logics. By bridging the interrelated political ecologies of extraction, GenAI and the environment, our findings offer some suggestions of how to achieve better public awareness of these emergent technologies. This growing public awareness is central to understanding how “new frontiers” of technology reproduce extractive socio-ecological relations and mask resource-intensive infrastructures of GenAI.