Experts: How are climate scientists using artificial intelligence?
Climate scientists are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence into their research to improve weather forecasting and analyze complex climate data. While AI offers significant efficiency gains, experts warn of risks such as energy consumption, overreliance on unverified models, and the potential to exacerbate existing inequalities.
Why it matters
AI is becoming a critical tool in climate science, but its rapid adoption requires careful management of technical and ethical risks.
Share Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at a rapid pace and is increasingly being used by scientists to better understand climate change.
AI is perhaps best-known for its use in “large language models”, such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
From weather forecasting to analysing satellite images, climate scientists are using various types of AI to develop faster and more efficient ways to study the warming planet.
However, the technology comes with no shortage of risks and challenges, including overreliance on unverified results, intensive energy use and exacerbating existing inequalities in climate science.
Carbon Brief spoke to 10 experts working across a range of climate-related fields – from developing climate forecasts to analysing changes in the energy grid – about how AI is being used.
Their answers are set out below, grouped by theme.
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