ATIS’ Next G Alliance (NGA) Green G Working Group today announced the release of Sustainable AI in Telecom: Promises and Challenges in 6G, which examines how to mitigate the environmental impact of artificial intelligence (AI) across the information and communication technology (ICT) industry value chain.
“AI is transforming the ICT landscape, offering powerful tools to optimize resource allocation, enhance network performance, and increase the automation and resilience of ICT networks; however, its energy demands — particularly during model training and deployment — pose significant environmental challenges,” said Next G Alliance Managing Director Jaydee Griffith. “This report makes a major contribution to understanding AI’s potential for enhancing sustainability in the ICT industry, as well as the challenges. It is another contribution by the Next G Alliance Green G Working Group to position North America as the global leader in environmental sustainability for 6G and beyond.”
Sustainable AI in Telecom highlights how AI can enhance energy efficiency across key areas, including Radio Access Networks (RAN), core networks, User Equipment (UE), and data centers. It also outlines strategies to reduce embodied emissions in AI infrastructure, transition to renewable energy sources, and minimize the energy consumption of machine learning processes. Also covered is the critical role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Value Indicators (KVIs) in assessing the efficacy of these strategies. From inception to retirement, the report underscores the importance of evaluating the entire lifecycle of AI systems.
“The rapid adoption of AI presents both challenges and opportunities for the telecom industry,” said Bhushan Joshi (Ericsson), NGA Green G Working Group Chair. “While ‘AI for Sustainability’ provides tools to enhance network energy efficiency and sustainability performance, it is equally important to deploy ‘Sustainable AI’ with consideration of its environmental footprint. I encourage readers to explore the insights outlined in this white paper and understand the importance of balancing these two aspects of AI to enable sustainable development of next-generation mobile technologies.”
“AI is transforming the industry, and its full potential relies on sustainable development,” said Gagandeep Bhatti (Nokia), Vice Chair, NGA Green G Working Group. “This paper examines the integration of AI in a sustainable manner for wireless networks. By leveraging machine learning, one can optimize energy consumption, implement energy-aware scheduling, and enhance spectral efficiency for 6G networks. The paper also highlights the importance of Sustainable AI, emphasizing the need for a holistic evaluation using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Value Indicators (KVIs) to ensure next-generation networks are both intelligent and resource efficient.”
Access Sustainable AI in Telecom: Promises and Challenges in 6G. Visit the 6G Library.
