Environmental impact of Artificial Intelligence w/ University of Waikato Dr Amanda Turnbull and Layer3 Solutions Director Daniel Bohan: 16 September, 2025

This week on Green Desk, Wire Host Sara takes a deep-dive into the environmental issues surrounding the proliferation of AI technology, particularly in New Zealand. In the context of Luxon’s recent announcement about a $7.5 billion investment by Amazon Web Services into data centres in New Zealand, alongside the rapid adoption of generative AI in sectors across the country, academics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of the growth of this industry. Last year, University of Waikato’s Dr Amanda Turnbull co-published an article about how New Zealand is outsourcing the “risks and costs” of AI and data centres, highlighting the water and resource consumption of global reliance on data centres and AI.  Sara spoke with Dr Amanda Turnbull about her concerns relating to AI’s environmental impact and how the New Zealand government should be responding to the ever-expanding industry. Following the interview with Turnbull, Sara was interested in exploring how businesses are confronting the issue of AI, especially as it becomes more integral to work. Layer3’s Solution Director Daniel Bohan published an article earlier this year scrutinising the confusing data surrounding the water footprint of AI. Sara spoke with Bohan more about how businesses and consumers should engage with AI and better understand the environmental impacts.  She start by asking about how he engaged with AI in his mahi