Slow.tech: it's urgent to hack the system!
summary
The talk argues that combining low-tech and high-tech solutions can cut digital carbon impact by 4–10× by moving computation off devices onto centralized supercomputers while delivering results via simple channels like SMS and school chalkboards. It gives concrete examples: a weather startup runs heavy models on Toulouse supercomputers but sends alerts to Côte d’Ivoire by SMS and chalkboard, and a medical program swaps large AI screening runs for effective canine olfactory detection to save compute. The approach prioritizes practical low-tech+high-tech substitutions now to hit urgent emission targets (peak in three years, halve in eight).
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chapters (5)
- 0:00Riddle
- 2:00Climate change
- 6:30Should we manufacture fewer devices that last longer?
- 10:30My talk
- 14:24Conclusion
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