​Researcher Tamara Kneese speaks with environmental justice researcher Sanjana Paul and critical social scientist Jasmine McNealy about the environmental toll AI development is taking on local water supplies, energy systems, and communities around the world.

This event will take place online and in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor

Artificial intelligence technologies run on powerful computers that require vast amounts of energy, water, and critical minerals. As AI use grows, so does its environmental footprint. Yet there is little consensus on how to assess and address the technology’s toll on the climate before irreparable damage is done. How can we understand the impact AI data centers have on communities and the environment? How can we ensure that communities are able to use empirical data about those impacts to fight back?

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

To join the event online | Whether you're attending in person or online, you must register with your email address.The Zoom link will be sent to you by email approximately one day before the event. You will need a device with audio and/or video and an internet/cellular connection to join.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Tamara Kneese is the director of Data & Society’s Climate, Technology, and Justice program. Previously, she led Data & Society’s Algorithmic Impacts Lab (AIMLab). Tamara’s research juxtaposes histories of computing and automation with ethnographies of platform labor. Her first book, Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond, was published by Yale University Press in 2023.

Jasmine McNealy is an attorney, critical public interest technologist, and social scientist who studies emerging media & technology with a view toward influencing law and policy. An internationally recognized scholar, her research is interdisciplinary, centered at the intersection of media, technology, policy, and law. Of particular focus are the areas of privacy, surveillance, and data governance and emphasizing technological and the impacts on marginalized and vulnerable communities. She is a professor at the University of Florida where she directs the Infrastructure for Communities, Ecology for Data Hub (ICED Hub), which annually hosts the Rural x AI + Policy Workshop. She is also Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Sanjana Paul is an engineer, environmental justice researcher, and systems thinker working at the intersection of infrastructure, climate, and technology. She is a PhD student at MIT, where her research focuses on renewable energy, energy justice, and the electric grid. She is the co-founder of Rooted Futures Lab, a research and action collective advancing environmental justice in technology, and Earth Hacks, a nonprofit harnessing hackathons as a form of climate action. Her work has ranged from atmospheric science software engineering at NASA to passing decarbonization policy at the local level. She holds a BS in electrical engineering and physics, and a Master’s in City Planning from MIT.

COMING UP IN Understanding AI 

Part III: Reorienting AI for the Public Interest | October 29, 2025 at 6:30 PM

REGISTER | Data & Society Executive Director Janet Haven hosts a critical discussion about AI accountability and the public interest, featuring professor Charlton McIlwain, journalist Julia Angwin, and civic technologist Catherine Bracy.

Part IV: Standing Up for Human Value in the AI Economy | November 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM

REGISTER | In this closing session, D&S Labor Futures Program Director Aiha Nguyen talks with AI Now Institute Co-Executive Director Amba Kak, Michelle Miller, Director of Innovation at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy, and Writers Guild of America East Executive Director Sam Wheeler about the value of human labor in increasingly automated workplaces.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream

• Captions and a transcript will be provided.


• You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail templateaccessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email connorgoodwin@nypl.org.

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Understanding AI is a collaboration with Data & Society, an independent nonprofit research and policy institute. Data & Society studies the social, political, and economic implications of data-centric technologies, automation, and AI, and uses that knowledge to inform and shape policy from the ground up. Learn more at datasociety.net.

All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All programs are subject to recording and photography. The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).