As AI usage grows, its energy consumption and carbon emissions are becoming an environmental concern. Here's why -- and how we can find solutions. When Mohammad Haft-Javaherian, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attended MIT's Green AI Hackathon in January, it was out of curiosity to learn about the capabilities of a new supercomputer cluster being showcased at the event. But what he had planned as a one-hour exploration of a cool new server drew him into a three-day competition to create energy-efficient artificial-intelligence programs. The experience resulted in a revelation for Haft-Javaherian, who researches the use of AI in healthcare: "The clusters I use every day to build models with the goal of improving healthcare have carbon footprints," Haft-Javaherian says.