Greenwashing AI in Higher Ed: An environmental argument for universities’ resistance to Big Tech

<ns3:p>Higher education’s (“Higher Ed”) rushed embrace of commercial AI technologies has not allowed for sufficient reflection on their serious ecological consequences. This issue is complicated by Big Tech corporations becoming increasingly intertwined in university ecosystems while profiting enormously from AI expansion. As a contribution to Open Research Europe’s Universities for Sustainability collection, this essay explores universities’ potential actions in response to AI’s growing environmental harms, urging higher education institutions (HEIs) to resist Big Tech’s encroachment into the sector. First, the paper outlines the increasing entanglements between universities and Big Tech. It then argues that these industry links deter comprehensive examinations of ethical issues related to AI technologies, particularly their ecological consequences. The essay subsequently explores universities’ potential complicity in Big Tech’s various greenwashing tactics, from shaping academic research agendas to spreading misleading claims of AI’s climate benefits to resisting transparency in environmental reporting. Finally, the essay recounts strategies for university communities to push back against Big Tech and AI’s growing environmental impacts, drawing upon the previous work and examples of critical scholars and activists.</ns3:p>