Blue Shift Report Highlights Systemic Vulnerabilities Caused by the Hidden Cost of AI - CleanTechnica

Arthur D. Little’s Blue Shift institute has released a comprehensive report titled "AI’s Hidden Dependencies," which examines the often-overlooked resource demands and systemic vulnerabilities associated with artificial intelligence. Drawing on insights from over 50 experts, the report identifies three critical dependency areas: environmental impacts from AI’s substantial energy consumption and hardware production, increased electricity demand stressing energy supply and grids, and compute infrastructure vulnerabilities including supply chain bottlenecks and reliance on dominant providers. As AI becomes integral to business operations, these hidden dependencies are expected to expose companies to systemic risks such as economic instability from underestimated AI costs, sustainability challenges related to carbon footprint management, and strategic lock-in due to supplier dependencies limiting competitiveness. To address these challenges, the report advises businesses to take proactive “no-regret” measures. These include aligning AI expenditures with actual business value to reveal true costs, regaining control over AI’s environmental footprint to restore sustainability credibility, and building strategic resilience by ensuring flexibility to switch providers and operate across different jurisdictions.