AI: Not Intelligent if It Costs Us the Earth.

​🌐 Language: English

​💶 Free of charge

​🎟️ Hosted by: Guardianas.org

​"A technology cannot be called intelligent if it contaminates water, destroys territories, consumes without limit, concentrates power, replaces human responsibility, or uses the knowledge of peoples without their consent."

​"AI has a body. It runs on minerals*, water, energy, and land..."

​Inspired by a powerful message from the Kággaba (Kogui) people of Colombia, this interactive 2-hour Lab moves past the digital hype to dissect the true ecological, social, and ethical costs of artificial intelligence.

​We will gather to "sit with the problem" and trace the physical footprint of AI—from rare mineral extraction to global labor exploitation. Join us to imagine and co-create new frameworks for what truly responsible technology looks like.

To read the hole text 👉🏽https://movilizatorio.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Gonawindua-Kogui-AI-Statement-.pdf

Main Goal and some Notes:

🌍 Our goal is not to stop AI, but to anchor its evolution in responsibility.

​Key Areas of Inquiry:
🌳 Ecological Infrastructure: Designing hardware and networks that respect nature and regional sovereignty.
📊 Radical Transparency: Establishing uncompromising, real-time monitoring of AI's environmental footprint.
♻️ Resource Efficiency: Architecting data centers powered by clean energy and optimized for minimal resource strain.

"The future of technology should be measured not only by computing power and innovation, but also by how responsibly we use our planet’s resources."

*What are ‘critical minerals’ and why do they matter for human rights?

​This photo is a still from a video captured by Reportage Sans Frontières for Amnesty International.

​It features an aerial view of the Gécamines open-pit copper and cobalt mine encroaching directly upon residential neighborhoods in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

​Global demand for minerals is rising fast. This is being driven by the shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles, and increasingly by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. Minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt are essential for these technologies, but extracting them often comes at a high cost to people and planet.

​Amnesty International’s research, spanning more than a decade and many countries, shows that communities at the frontlines of so-called “critical minerals” extraction experience serious human rights and environmental abuses. These include health-harming pollution, forced evictions, dangerous working conditions, loss of livelihoods and violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination. The pattern is clear: too often, the demand for minerals happens at the expense of human rights and the environment.

​What are critical minerals? 

​“Critical minerals” are raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements. They are considered “critical” because they are essential for modern technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, AI hardware and infrastructure, wind turbines, power grids and smartphones.

​Governments and companies often describe these minerals as “critical” to justify continued extraction of natural resources in the name of green energy, technological progress, defence, and national security. The climate crisis indeed requires urgent action. But while these minerals play an important role in the urgent transition to renewable energy, increased extraction carries serious risks for human rights and the environment. A rights-respecting transition must therefore also focus on reducing overall demand for new mining, by measures such as reducing car dependence, increasing energy efficiency, decreasing electric vehicle battery sizes and maximizing battery recycling and reuse. 

🌍 Sources:

https://movilizatorio.org/un-mensaje-desde-el-corazon-del-mundo-sobre-la-inteligencia-artificial/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2026/06/what-are-critical-minerals-and-why-do-they-matter-for-human-rights/