AI and tools like Chatgpt are becoming commonplace tools in businesses, your doctor’s office and in schools. Asking questions of Chatgpt is both fun, informative and educational but you may be surprised to know that your information, gleaned from your online communications, your smart watch, your emails, your loyalty cards, your online purchases and online surveys has value to someone else. Who knew?

Your information, usually called data, has value for many reasons. Firstly anything that has ever been uploaded onto the internet can be accessed by the developers of AI to train and teach their models like Chatgpt. Businesses and corporates purchase these AI applications for productivity gains. Even your uploaded photos have value to someone, except you are not being paid for your efforts. Instead, software companies sell subscriptions to applications which supply AI generated images. In some third world country people are sitting at their computers labelling every single element of billions of pictures, art works, photos and creative works. These illustrations are then generated to order! One day your image may turn up in someone else’s inbox.

When I talk about the impacts of AI, I often hear people say that the downsides are outweighed by the benefits. That may be so but there are some serious environmental issues to consider. For a start, labelling the elements of images is being done by low paid workers in third world countries, in conditions much like the sweatshop garment factories that produce low cost clothing. Secondly, to store all this information requires a huge amount of electricity to cool the vast number of computers that host the AI applications. The storage facilities are often in third world countries where access to water for cooling and renewable electricity generation may be in short supply. It’s even become profitable to recommission nuclear power plants to supply the huge energy requirements. Mining for rare earth minerals needed for the computer chips has become the subject of territory wars, and space exploration is no longer for the good of humanity – it’s a race to find the minerals needed for computer chip development.

Have a look at what is produced by the most valuable company in the world! Nvidia.

Why am I talking about this? I am enrolled in a doctorate with Massey University, alongside my volunteer role with SeniorNet Upper Hutt. I am concerned with the impact of AI on older people and the organisation’s that represent them.

If your community group would like me to talk plainly about the pros and cons of AI, I would be happy to visit. – heather@foresee.co.nz or phone 0272762730.

A “thank you” to Heather for sending this letter to The Upper Hutt Connection.

19/08/25