Can The Bots Save The Block? AI, Energy, And The Fight For A Sustainable Future

In this moment of climate urgency, the future isn’t just coded in 1s and 0s—it’s burning through energy grids, gulping down power like it’s sweet tea in July. Artificial Intelligence, the shiny crown jewel of Big Tech, is growing faster than our planet can keep up. But in the spirit of Sankofa, Afrofuturism dares us to look back to move forward. The question is: Can we reclaim the machine and code a future that’s green, Black, and deeply alive?

The Rise of the Machines… and the Power Bill

AI is everywhere—from your playlist to your protest signs. But behind every algorithm is a server, and behind every server is a power-hungry data center. These data farms, often invisible to the everyday user, are devouring electricity and water at wild rates. The International Energy Agency reports that AI-driven data centers are set to double their global electricity consumption by 2030, with U.S. AI usage potentially surpassing that of entire industries like steel or cement.

Let that sit: robots writing poetry are using more power than the folks building cities.

Even scarier? Some governments are turning back to coal to feed AI’s hunger. Yes—coal. In 2024, former president Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand coal mining under the banner of “AI energy security.” The future might be smart, but the policies powering it? Stuck in the past.

AI as a Climate Tool—Or Just More Tech Theater?

But it’s not all dystopian. AI is also being used to track deforestation, predict energy consumption, and even help farmers adapt to climate shifts. At its best, AI could help manage renewable grids, detect environmental disasters faster, and create smarter urban planning models.

Still, here’s the catch: those tools still require tons of energy to run. It’s like trying to save a burning house with a flamethrower.

The only way AI can genuinely be green is if we build it to be. That means developing energy-efficient models, powering data centers with renewables, and making sustainability the default—not the add-on.

Afrofuturism Rewrites the Blueprint

Afrofuturism isn’t here for a tech apocalypse. It’s a cultural movement that combines science fiction, ancestral wisdom, art, and activism—rooted in Black liberation and radical reimagination.

So what does Afrofuturism say about AI?

It says tech should serve the people, not profit margins. It says innovation without equity is just digital colonialism. It says sustainability isn’t just solar panels and electric cars—it’s communal gardens, open-source networks, and Indigenous science.

It’s Harriet Tubman reimagined as a cybernetic navigator. It’s Sun Ra coding in the stars. It’s Detroit hackers building blockchain co-ops and South African coders mapping water rights with machine learning.

Community Tech is the Revolution

In the AFROPUNK universe, community is the motherboard. If we want AI to work for us, it has to be built with us. That means:

• Decentralizing tech—giving Black and Indigenous communities access to the tools, not just the products.

• Training AI on diverse datasets, so it reflects our realities and respects our languages.

• Embedding justice in the code, so that environmental harm isn’t just calculated—it’s prevented.

Technologists like Jacquelyn Omotalade are already leading the charge, arguing that climate tech must confront environmental imperialism head-on. The idea isn’t to throw AI away—it’s to decolonize it.

The Future We Deserve

We don’t need another shiny app that tells us our carbon footprint while flying on private jets. We need Black-led solutions, ancestral science, and AI that respects both the Earth and the people who’ve always protected it.

So no—we’re not anti-tech. We’re anti-extraction. Anti-exclusion. Anti-apathetic.

We’re pro-Black, pro-Earth, pro-future.

Let the bots come. But if they’re not here to uplift, repair, and rewild the world, they can log off.