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AI and responsibility: the practical considerations organisations face right now

How energy, water and trust shape the future of AI adoption

December 2025

Artificial intelligence is a normal part of how many teams work and organisations are thinking about what this means for growth, investment and skills. During a recent panel discussion with promanchester, our founder Malin shared a perspective shaped by her work as a B Corp agency founder and Carbon Literacy trainer.

Her view was that AI brings opportunity, but it also brings impact. This builds on the webinar series we delivered recently with fellow B Corp Avery & Brown, that explored the link between AI and sustainability communications and raised concerns about its wider impact.

Like most agencies, we use AI to help speed up processes and support with research and content development. But, we are also very mindful of the environmental and social systems that sit behind the technology.

Understanding the opportunity and impact is essential in order to adopt AI in a way that aligns with climate goals, community needs and long-term resilience.

Environmental factors we cannot ignore

Data centres that power AI place growing pressure on energy and water systems, and this often gets overlooked when we talk about innovation. AI models need large amounts of electricity to train and operate, yet very little public data exists on how much power individual models actually consume.

Goldman Sachs expects the global electricity demand could increase by around 50% by 2027 and may more than double by 2030. This within an energy system that still relies heavily on fossil fuels. And not only that, the UK grid is already straining and needs major upgrades to keep pace with rising demand.

Water usage is part of the picture too. Data centres use large amounts of freshwater for cooling, competing with local communities for access to essential resources.

These environmental pressures are now gaining more attention in the wider AI debate. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, recently spoke to the BBC about the “immense” energy needs of AI and acknowledged that this demand is already slowing down progress on climate targets.

Trust, misinformation and responsible communication

Alongside these environmental pressures, AI continues to influence how people understand and trust information. AI can now generate realistic images, audio and written content in seconds. This supports creativity and accessibility, but it also increases the speed at which misinformation can spread.

In fact, many adults already struggle to tell the difference between real and AI-generated content, which affects public debate and the overall confidence people have in organisations.

What readiness could look like

There is no doubt that AI is here and that it will play a central role in business and society going forward. But we also recognise that we need to pair these incredible tools with responsible processes built around open communication, clear checks and sensible safeguards.

If you want support understanding this landscape, shaping responsible messaging or communicating your approach with clarity, get in touch.