AI AND THE ENVIRONMENT: THE TRANSITION TO A BIOECONOMIC DIGITALIZED SOCIETY

The bioeconomy of the future is seen by many as driven by new technologies. The rapid evolution of AI creates the vision of a whole new world with improved lives from food production, to the way businesses are run, and to e-healthcare. The World Economic Forum promotes AIi, as a technology related to the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ for the development of a circular economy/bioeconomy. For the OECD, the bioeconomy is the economic sector with AI-based biotechnology, while for the European Union the bioeconomy is based on the concept of biorefinery (bio-based chemistry that must replace petro-chemistry using biomass which is renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals – agriculture, forestry, aquatic and waste sources). This paper will discuss, on one hand, the environmental impact related to AI systems, and, on the other hand, the potential of AI-innovation to accelerate the transition to a digitalized bioeconomy.