Version 1
: Received: 5 September 2024 / Approved: 6 September 2024 / Online: 6 September 2024 (09:40:13 CEST)
How to cite:
Ertel, W.; Bonenberger, C. Rebound Effects caused by Artificial Intelligence and
Automation in Private Life and Industry. Preprints2024, 2024090504. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0504.v1
Ertel, W.; Bonenberger, C. Rebound Effects caused by Artificial Intelligence and
Automation in Private Life and Industry. Preprints 2024, 2024090504. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0504.v1
Ertel, W.; Bonenberger, C. Rebound Effects caused by Artificial Intelligence and
Automation in Private Life and Industry. Preprints2024, 2024090504. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0504.v1
APA Style
Ertel, W., & Bonenberger, C. (2024). Rebound Effects caused by Artificial Intelligence and
Automation in Private Life and Industry. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0504.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Ertel, W. and Christopher Bonenberger. 2024 "Rebound Effects caused by Artificial Intelligence and
Automation in Private Life and Industry" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.0504.v1
Abstract
Many tasks in a modern household are done by machines like e.g. a dishwasher or a
vacuum cleaner and in the near future most household tasks can be done by smart service robots.
This relieves the residents who in turn can enjoy their free time. This newly gained free time turns
out to cause the so called spare time rebound effect due to more resource consumption [1,2]. We
roughly quantify this rebound effect and propose a CO2 -budget model to reduce or even avoid it. In
modern industry, automation and AI take over work from humans, leading to higher productivity of
the company as a whole. This is the main reason for economic growth which leads to environmental
problems due to higher consumption of natural resources. We show that, even though the effects of
automation at home and in the industry are different (free time versus higher productivity) in the
end they both lead to more resource consumption and environmental pollution. We discuss possible
solutions to this problem such as carbon taxes, emissions trading systems and a carbon budget.
Keywords
Rebound effect; artificial intelligence; automation; economic growth; service robot; free time; productivity; carbon tax; emissions trading system; carbon budget; economy for the common good
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Sustainable Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
