From Efficiency Gains to Rebound Effects: The Problem of Jevons' Paradox in AI's Polarized Environmental Debate
Alexandra Sasha Luccioni, Emma Strubell, Kate Crawford · 2025-06-23
This paper examines how AI has emerged as a contested force in climate discourse, with some championing its potential for renewable energy and emissions monitoring while others highlight its carbon footprint, water use, and e-waste. The authors apply the concept of Jevons' Paradox to AI, arguing that efficiency gains may paradoxically spur increased consumption and that understanding these second-order rebound effects requires combining lifecycle assessments with socio-economic analyses. The paper argues that AI's environmental trajectory depends on systemic governance choices rather than technical optimization alone.
Alexandra Sasha Luccioni, Emma Strubell, Kate Crawford. 2025-06-23. From Efficiency Gains to Rebound Effects: The Problem of Jevons' Paradox in AI's Polarized Environmental Debate. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3715275.3732007 (AI & Environment Resource Hub; record paper-432; collection snapshot 2026-09-15).
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