Reviewing the socio-technical dynamics of AI, data centers and digitalization on energy and the environment

Payne Institute Fellow Steve Griffiths and Director Morgan Bazilian, along with a team of experts, write about how the recent and rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and other digitalization technologies has accelerated global electricity consumption, creating a new paradigm in energy and growth. Still, no comprehensive framework exists to evaluate the role of low-carbon innovations across AI’s complex sociotechnical ecosystem.  March 12, 2026.