Marie Josefine Hintz is a Doctoral Researcher at Technical University Berlin, visiting researcher both at Mercator Research Institute for Global Commons and Climate Change as well as Hertie School. She is part of the Climate Change Center Berlin-Brandenburg and her work is supported through a scholarship from Heinrich Böll Foundation. Josefine's research focusses on governance of artificial intelligence (AI) for climate action in European cities. During her Master Studies at the Bartlett, UCL 2016/2017 Josefine explored initial connections between AI and urban sustainability. Whilst working for ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, Josefine worked on the pioneering EU project 'AI4Cities' in which 6 cities developed AI-based prototypes together with start-ups to reduce carbon emissions.

This is a moment of time in which we face existential challenges to humanity's survival. The message is clear: We have to tackle the climate crisis. Cities are uniquely positioned to implement climate action. Whilst some progress has been made, a tremendous amount of work is left to get done with only a little time left. Meanwhile, major strides are being made in the scalable development of Artificial Intelligence - but to what end? In my TEDx talk I explore current dynamics at the nexus of climate change and AI - specifically, how can cities leverage AI to achieve carbon neutrality?
For example in some cities across Europe, AI-based technology is pioneered to support the reduction of GHG emissions in building and transport sectors. In my talk, I unpack the potential, risks and challenges behind these first steps towards using AI to tackle the climate crisis.