4 solutions for companies to overcome the hidden costs of AI

Zawya

4 days ago

The hidden cost of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming the next frontier in corporate accountability. As the technology continues to expand rapidly, without urgent intervention, its environmental footprint could outpace the very benefits it promises.
Claire Bradbury, sustainability lead for Accenture, Africa says AI is expanding rapidly, and without urgent intervention, its environmental footprint could outpace the very benefits it promises. She offers four solutions (Image supplied)
AI is no longer just a tool for progress — it's fast becoming a test of responsibility.
As South African companies race to harness artificial intelligence for innovation and growth, few are asking the most critical question: at what environmental cost?
Behind every breakthrough model lies a surge in electricity demand, water use, and carbon emissions — realities that can no longer be dismissed as side effects.
A new problem
This is not a future problem. It's a now problem.
In a country already grappling with grid instability and water scarcity, South African boardrooms can't afford to treat AI sustainability as an afterthought.
If we're serious about building a digital future, we must ensure it's one the planet can sustain.
Across the globe, generative AI is expanding at a blistering pace, bringing with it massive compute demands, energy surges, and water-intensive data centres.
Our latest research estimates that by 2030, AI workloads could consume more than 600 terawatt-hours of electricity annually.
That's equivalent to the energy used by hundreds of millions of homes.
More troubling still, the water required to cool data centres especially in regions that already face water scarcity could reach crisis levels. In South Africa, we are already living with the twin pressures of unreliable electricity and severe water stress.
And yet, local enterprises are racing to adopt AI without asking the crucial question: how sustainable is this growth?
The uncomfortable reality
The uncomfortable reality is that if we don't course-correct now, AI will push us closer to climate instability even as it helps us solve other problems.
It's the ultimate contradiction using a future-forward tool with a 20th-century energy model. That contradiction must be resolved. And it starts with accountability.
Every South African organisation that embraces AI must do so with full visibility into the environmental cost and a commitment to minimising it.
4 solutions
Fortunately, the solutions are within reach.
- Smarter silicon
New computer architectures like Processing-In-Memory (PIM) and Compute-In-Memory (CIM) can dramatically reduce the energy intensity of AI operations. Instead of constantly shuttling data between memory and processing units, an energy-hungry exercise, these chips perform computation directly within memory, cutting power consumption significantly. That's not a tech detail. That's a sustainability breakthrough.
- Geography of your data.
AI workloads must be located where clean, affordable energy is available. That might mean shifting some operations to regions with high solar penetration or hydro capacity. In South Africa, we can't afford to run advanced AI models on coal-fired power. It's inefficient, it's expensive, and it's reputationally risky. The next generation of competitive advantage will come from clean compute.
- Design discipline
Too many organisations fall into the trap of experimentation for its own sake running endless AI model iterations that consume resources without yielding proportional value. It's time to apply restraint. Use AI where it matters. Train models with purpose. Avoid redundant data cycles. This is about thoughtful innovation, not performative digitalism.
- Governance
Sustainability in AI cannot be a bolt-on consideration. It must be written into the code. That means deploying governance-as-code frameworks that automate sustainability guardrails, monitor energy thresholds in real-time, and flag violations before they spiral. It means giving your IT and sustainability teams a common language and the tools to enforce it.
Sustainable digital transformation
South African companies have an opportunity indeed, a responsibility to lead in the design of responsible AI. Our energy grid is fragile. Our climate is under strain. Our water resources are finite.
But we also have some of the world's most creative technologists, a growing green finance movement, and an emerging generation of sustainability-savvy consumers.
We can be the continent that shows how to scale AI responsibly, equitably, and profitably.
The AI decisions we make in the next 24 months will determine whether we lock in a high-carbon future or build the foundation for sustainable digital transformation. That's the fork in the road.
South African businesses must partner with experts who understand both sides of the equation, innovation and impact.
Because only those who balance the promise of AI with the principles of sustainability will be truly future-ready.
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