Covering the Planet with the Tools That Tax It: AI for Climate, Science and Environmental Journalists

There's a big discussion among all journalists, but especially climate journalists: Should we use AI? If so, how and how much?

Sometimes it's already embedded in newsrooms. Either way, data centers consume about 415 terawatt-hours globally, roughly 1.5% of world electricity, and the International Energy Agency projects that figure will double by 2030. AI is both a tool transforming newsrooms and a story-shaping force in public life. How should journalists approach both with rigor?

In this session, veteran journalist and SF State University Professor Yumi Wilson approaches AI exactly as solutions journalism does: examining what AI actually does in newsrooms (response), what the evidence shows about its costs and benefits (evidence), what reporters are learning about its best uses (insight), and where it falls short (limitations).

This session was hosted by ‪the Solutions Journalism Network and the ‪Metcalf Institute‬.