Environmental contradictions of large language models in higher education

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Date
2025-12-16
Authors
O'Sullivan, James
Kelly, Mark
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UNESCO
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Research Projects
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Abstract
Universities are racing to adopt AI, even as its environmental costs remain largely obscured. Can higher education pursue responsible innovation while upholding sustainability and its commitment to the public good.
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Keywords
SDG 4 - Quality Education , Large language models , Higher education , Sustainability , GenAI , Generative AI , [EnglishDigitalHumanities]
Citation
O'Sullivan, J. and Kelly, M. (2025), 'Environmental contradictions of large language models in higher education' UNESCO Ideas LAB (8pp). https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/environmental-contradictions-large-language-models-higher-education
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URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10468/18706
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School of English and Digital Humanities
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© 2026, the Authors and UNESCO.