For many, traditional Google searches have been replaced by conversations with chatbots. To deliver services like ChatGPT, Deepsake, Sora, etc., enormous data centers are required to keep servers running, store data, and provide the necessary capacity. These centers demand large amounts of clean freshwater for operation, putting pressure on an already limited natural resource. This complex issue formed the backdrop for the interdisciplinary workshop.
Through the interdisciplinary workshop, students learn to express, explain, and apply their own expertise while gaining insights into other disciplines. The goal is to develop interdisciplinary competence and gain experience in cross-disciplinary collaboration. Interdisciplinary competence involves the ability to combine knowledge and approaches from two or more fields to achieve new insights that would not be possible with just one field (Boix Mansilla & Duraisingh, 2007). The students worked in groups composed of various disciplines.
On the first day of the interdisciplinary workshop, participants were introduced to the topic of AI and climate. The students came from the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. To better understand each other's fields, students from the same faculty were asked to describe the typical main features of their discipline. These descriptions were then presented in plenary. Several students expressed that it was interesting to learn about other fields and that it was useful to describe their own field.
On the second day, there were two lectures to shed light on the issue of AI and climate. S?lve Eidnes, senior researcher at SINTEF, and Cristopher Frenning, National Technology Officer for Norway at Microsoft, talked about how AI affects the climate and how language models require large water resources.
The students were engaged in the topic and carried this enthusiasm into the group work. Their task was to propose solutions, which did not need to be realistic but should be developed from an interdisciplinary perspective. To help the groups get started, they were introduced to brain-writing.
Brain-writing
Brain-writing is an effective method for generating ideas and is a creativity technique for group work. It is similar to brainstorming, but instead of sharing ideas verbally, participants write them down.
- Each group member receives a post-it note and writes their idea at the top.
- The post-it note is then passed to the next group member.
- Each group member reads and expands on the ideas they receive, building on the written idea.
- The post-it notes circulate so that all group members contribute to all ideas.
- The groups discuss and evaluate the idea chains on the post-it notes.
Brain-writing ensures that all participants contribute and allows ideas to build on each other. This method permits an independent thought process while promoting collective creativity, making it effective for idea generation in the initial stages of group work.
Interdisciplinary Competence
The students worked in three smaller groups. To ensure that the groups could integrate the various fields, an adapted model of Repko (2008) was presented. The model served as a useful tool to guide the groups step-by-step through the interdisciplinary process. The task given to the students was to propose solutions that did not need to be realistic but should be developed from an interdisciplinary perspective. A visual representation of the model is shown below.
One group proposed regulating the use of artificial intelligence at the system level by establishing an AI directorate under the Ministry of Digitalization and Administration. This supranational authority would allocate the amount of artificial intelligence different sectors can use, ensuring limited use of AI and fair distribution, with resource use prioritized for beneficial purposes. The group also proposed the creation of an independent supervisory body to monitor and enforce energy consumption limits within the state budget.
Another group suggested building a crematorium adjacent to the data center in Skien. The group explained that the wastewater from the data center could be compressed to increase its temperature, allowing it to be reused to operate the crematorium. Additionally, the group wanted to reduce the use of artificial intelligence by implementing pop-up warnings about unnecessary energy consumption for so-called "unnecessary" questions to the chatbot.
The third group proposed that data centers should be built underwater and near abandoned platforms, allowing the processors to be naturally cooled by the cold temperatures at the seabed. Furthermore, the excess energy from the data center would be transported through the risers on the platform and reused for food production in greenhouses on top of the platform. The image below shows a visual representation of what such a data center could look like.
At the end of each day, the students answered reflection questions and expressed that working interdisciplinarily was both educational and challenging. They particularly enjoyed learning about other disciplines and found it useful to describe their own. Additionally, several students mentioned brain-writing as an effective and fun method to kickstart group work.
Students who completed the interdisciplinary workshop received a diploma for participation and were further invited to continue on the interdisciplinary ladder and participate in the interdisciplinary facilitator program.
Sources
Boix Mansilla, V. & Duraisingh, E. (2007). Targeted Assessment of Students' Interdisciplinary Work: An Empirically Grounded Framework Proposed. The Journal of Higher Education, 78, 215-237.
Repko, A (2008). Interdisciplinary Research; Process and Theory. Los Angeles: Sage
Transition Makers Toolbox. (n.d.). Da Vinci Project. Transition Makers. Accessed from: https://transitionmakers.nl/in-practice/da-vinci-project/