AI's potential climate benefits outweighed by role in boosting fossil fuels

A study found that AI-driven productivity improvements increase fossil fuel production emissions more than they reduce emissions from renewable energy. Across 64 scenarios, net carbon pollution rose by 0.47-1.8 gigatonnes annually, about 1-5% of the energy sector's emissions. Emissions only declined if AI adoption favored renewables over fossil fuels by at least four times.