

Episode 7: Uniting States of Intelligence: Human x Planetary x AI
In this episode, I explore provocative questions with Anthropic’s Ambassador for Sustainable AI, Founder & MD of Sustained Futures and former McLaren racing sustainability lead, Katie Neck. AI may be extraordinarily intelligent. But is it smart enough to understand the planetary resources it depends on? Katie’s sustainability journey began not with an ESG report, but with a category 2 typhoon at the Japanese Grand Prix. Her response regarding the impact of this typhoon on business, was entirely through the lens of operational risk - freight delays, recording issues, low visibility, guests unable to make it to the venue and demanding money back. Six seasons at McLaren later, Katie is now working at the intersection of AI, sustainability and the skills businesses need to transition towards a future-fit workforce, against a backdrop of cascading climate and nature risks and opportunities. The physical reality behind the AI boom makes the dependencies clear: AI needs energy, water, land and infrastructure. Are those constraints being properly factored into its extraordinary growth ambitions, revenue run rates and IPO valuations? Could Claude help a business decide where to build a factory — mapping water stress and ecological resilience alongside cost and logistics? Why don't renewables alone solve the data-centre challenge? How is China building AI infrastructure? Katie also challenges one of the sustainability comms campaigns most central messages: “Save the Planet.” Our Planet doesn’t need saving. It’ll be fine without it. In fact, it’ll flourish. We need the Planet. We depend on it. What will it take for human intelligence, artificial intelligence and planetary intelligence stop operating in different rooms? Listen to episode 7 to learn more.
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