Greener Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know About AI and the Planet

Artificial intelligence is transforming the world at incredible speed. But behind every AI model, every chatbot, and every image generator lies a hidden story of energy, water, minerals, and waste. Greener Intelligence is the first plain-speaking guide to the environmental truth about AI. Drawing on years of talks, workshops, and conversations with leaders and curious minds alike, Rob May uncovers the unseen cost of the digital systems we rely on every day. This book explores: • The real-world resources powering AI, from rare earth metals to data centre cooling. • Why our growing appetite for intelligence comes with a growing footprint. • How smarter design, local processing, and conscious use can change the narrative. • What businesses, policymakers, and individuals can do to use AI without abusing the planet. This is not a call to reject technology. It is a call to rethink how we build and use it. Whether you are a business leader, educator, developer, or simply curious about AI’s role in the future, Greener Intelligence will help you understand the choices that matter. Because real intelligence is not measured by what we can build. It is measured by how responsibly we build it.