As part of this year’s Sustainability Week in Lund, the Lund Stem Cell Center at Lund University’s Faculty of Medicine invited the public and research community to explore how can AI be used responsibly in life science research. The panel discussion “Sustainable AI in Practice: From Computational Costs to Real‑World Impacts” was held on Friday 17 April from 12:00 – 13:00.
Bringing together expertise in machine learning, high‑performance computing and AI hardware, the discussion will explore where the environmental impacts of AI come from, and where AI can also help support more sustainable research. Through short talks, a moderated panel and audience Q&A, the event aims to provide concrete takeaways for researchers, students and anyone curious about the future of AI in biomedicine.
Two of the organisers behind the event, Daniel Twohig and Claire McKay, members of the Lund Stem Cell Center’s Sustainability Committee, explain why this conversation matters now.
Q: Why is sustainability an important issue when we talk about artificial intelligence in research today?
“While AI is profoundly transforming our world by accelerating scientific discovery, data handling and potentially boosting productivity, sustainability is certainly a critical issue as AI becomes frequently used in research and other industries,” explains Claire McKay.
“The environmental footprint such as carbon emissions, water use for cooling of data centres, as well as electronic waste becomes a major challenge. AI is a powerful and useful tool within research, and yet, it can divert budget, attention and the environment away from achieving sustainable development.”
Q: Many researchers may not think about the computational or energy costs of AI tools. What do you hope this event will make people more aware of?
“We hope that this event can inspire responsible AI use and how to avoid frivolous applications or consider alternative ways forward such as down-sizing to compressed or small language models which are more efficient,” says Claire McKay.
Q: Beyond environmental costs, what broader real-world impacts of AI are you hoping the panel discussion will highlight?
“We are anticipating that the panel will also discuss other detrimental effects of AI from shifts in employment trends to human health and capacity,” continues Claire McKay.
Daniela Twohig adds: “Employment trends might be a particularly important issue. One of academia’s primary roles is preparing people for various careers, and thus, Universities may need to overhaul a multitude of courses, and even some departments, if the AI predictions hold true.”
Q: What is one key takeaway you hope attendees will bring back to their own research or studies?
“We hope that attendees leave with a clearer and more informed understanding of what is happening academia and industry, both from a local and an international perspective,” notes Daniel Twohig.
“The differing vantage points of our panellists and moderator will hopefully inspire, or at least inform, people on how they can begin to, or improve upon their efforts to actively work towards, employing more sustainable computation in their own research. Moreover, it would be great if we could hopefully even inspire some attendees to dive into the field!”
