Crawford Warns AI Strains Global Resources
Researcher Kate Crawford told a Boston College audience that AI's expansion is depleting metals and energy at a growing rate.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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AI researcher Kate Crawford spoke Wednesday evening at Boston College as part of the Lowell Humanities Series, warning about the technology's expanding influence on society. She argued that AI has depleted global resources to boost efficiency.
Why it matters
Crawford's remarks highlight physical costs of AI that are often overlooked, including mineral extraction and energy demand for computing infrastructure. For Boston readers, the talk frames AI's footprint as a question of resource use rather than only software capability.
The figure comes from an International Monetary Fund projection cited by Crawford, comparing 2030 global data center energy use to India's total energy consumption. The underlying assumptions and methodology behind the projection were not described at the event.
The players
Kate Crawford
Kate Crawford is a University of Southern California professor and AI researcher whose book Atlas of AI examines the technology's consequences, and whose art projects have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, which hosted the Lowell Humanities Series event.
The details
Crawford, a University of Southern California professor and AI researcher, uses a three-pronged approach of control failure, climate risks, and cognitive offloading to examine the technology. She said the world is in a mineral super cycle to obtain rare earth, cobalt, copper, and other metals needed for computing infrastructure, and offered education, political leadership, and technical innovation as solutions.
Timeline
Wednesday evening: Crawford spoke at Boston College as part of the Lowell Humanities Series.
2030: Projected year in which data centers would use as much energy as India.
Big Picture
Crawford's warning draws on an International Monetary Fund projection that data centers could match India's total energy use by 2030. Her framing shifts the AI debate from software risks toward the mineral and energy footprint of the computing infrastructure behind it.
For Boston residents, the resource costs Crawford described connect to the energy and materials behind everyday digital services. Readers weighing AI tools may consider how data center energy demand could influence electricity prices and infrastructure planning in the region.
The takeaway
Crawford's three proposed solutions, education, political leadership, and technical innovation, point to choices that affect how AI's physical footprint develops. Readers interested in the topic can weigh AI tools with resource use in mind.
Further reading
Explore more on Artificial Intelligence coverage from across the region.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Heights.
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