How can artificial intelligence help build a greener future?

Over the past decades, artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from being something out of science fiction to being very much part of science fact. It is now an integral part of our present, and we are beginning to see the impact it has on the workplace, the economy and the technology we use every day. How can we leverage AI to build a greener and more sustainable future? AI has long been a favourite subject in fiction, be it books, graphic novels or films – think 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix or even The Terminator. In the interests of drama and suspense, the AI portrayed is more often than not malevolent, with machines having half an eye on taking over the world (or in the case of The Matrix, the machine actually being the world).