The environmental cost of artificial intelligence begins long before a server is installed inside a data center. AI hardware depends on copper, aluminum, steel, silicon, batteries, specialty metals, semiconductor factories, international transportation, and human labor. The Silicon Footprint follows this hidden supply chain from mines and factories to server rooms and electronic-waste facilities.
The book examines the energy, water, pollution, and working conditions connected with manufacturing advanced computer equipment. It also investigates the rapid replacement of functioning servers as technology companies compete to install faster processors and more powerful artificial-intelligence systems.
Armando Oscar Olmos and Maria Teresa Zambrano Rivera call for longer equipment life, repairable technology, responsible purchasing, independently verified recycling, and transparent supply chains. The true footprint of AI must include extraction, manufacturing, transportation, operation, replacement, and disposal.