📅 Wednesday 8th July 2026 | 🕐 13:00–14:00
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In this talk, Joe will present his co-authored work on ‘The nature of AI: Metabolism, energy, water, labour and justice in the urban political ecology of artificial intelligence‘. The integration of vast volumes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into the built environment is changing the metabolism of urban spaces. Because of AI’s substantial environmental costs, more resources are now needed to satisfy cities’ technological appetite.
About the Speaker
Joe Williams, formerly of Cardiff University, researching the emergence of ‘new’ or ‘unconventional’ water resources, particularly desalination and wastewater recycling. Unconventional water is seen by many as a potential game-changer for addressing global water challenges, but its use can also create or entrench problems. Joe co-authored a paper ‘The nature of AI: Metabolism, energy, water, labour and justice in the urban political ecology of artificial intelligence‘. His research currently focusses on Kenya, South Africa and Morocco. He is the Principle Investigator on the ERC-assessed, UKRI-funded project ‘Global development and the contradictions of new water‘.