Climate and Responsibility for the Future: Ethics and AI

The text analyzes the ethical and material aspects of the climate crisis. The author invokes the non-identity problem and the principle of intergenerational justice, distinguishing between weak sustainability (the substitutability of resources) and strong sustainability, where biosphere stability is irreplaceable. A significant thread is the materiality of AI technology—while it supports optimization, its infrastructure generates enormous demand for energy and water, which, combined with the Jevons paradox, may offset efficiency gains. The article concludes with reflections on the limits of economic growth, contrasting the concepts of green growth and degrowth, indicating that the fight against climate change requires not only innovation but also a critical analysis of the physical limits of matter and energy consumption on a planetary scale.