AI fetishism and perverse climate disavowal: Why denying destructiveness facilitates our ecological collapse

As ecological crises intensify, scholars and activists increasingly question the sustainability of economic growth. Yet, the dominant growth-oriented paradigm remains foundational to advanced capitalist societies and cannot be altered without significant social disruption. The resulting tension between ecological limits and the imperative for continuous growth generates “climate anxiety.” This article advances the concept of perverse climate disavowal : a mode of climate denial that acknowledges climate threats while maintaining faith in the illusion of infinite economic expansion. This disavowal functions as a psychological defense mechanism, enabling individuals and institutions to avoid confronting structural contradictions. The article examines the increasing use of artificial intelligence to address climate change as a key expression of this phenomenon. A directed qualitative content analysis was conducted on USA news articles (2020–2024) concerning AI and climate change. A complete description of the methodology, including rank order frequency of concept codes and representative quotes, is included.