Is your digital footprint killing the planet?

Not all AI is the same — and the difference really matters.

We talk about “AI” as though it is one thing. But there is a profound difference between AI that augments what we can do and AI that simply helps us consume more. Perhaps it's time we found better language for the difference.

AI can help advance science and medicine, tackle environmental challenges and augment human capability. But it can also be used to generate endless content, drive greater consumption and automate things that perhaps never needed to be automated in the first place.

So where does responsibility lie?

We can make better choices about how we use technology. But individual restraint alone cannot solve a problem shaped by powerful commercial incentives, technology companies and the enormous infrastructure required to support an increasingly AI-powered world.

Colin Corby explores the hidden environmental cost of our digital lives and asks some difficult questions about the AI-powered future we are creating.

What is worth using AI for? What isn't? And who decides what is enough?

The challenge isn't to reject technology. It is to develop a more conscious and sustainable relationship with it — while recognising that some of the biggest decisions are no longer ours to make.