The World is Not Enough: Growing Waste in HPC-enabled Academic Practice

Most research depends to some extent on technologies and computational infrastructures including, and perhaps especially, HCI. Despite the noted environmental impacts associated with information communication technology (ICT) globally, to date little consideration has been given as to how to limit the impact of research and innovation processes themselves. Working to understand the technical and cultural drivers of this impact within the specific but resource-intensive domain of High Performance Computing (HPC), we conducted 25 interviews with academic researchers, providers, funders, and commissioners of HPC. We find intersecting socio-cultural and technical dimensions that link to research institutions like conferences, funders, and universities that reinforce and embed, rather than challenge, expectations of growth and waste. At a time when large scale cloud systems, generative AI and ever larger models are multiplying, we argue to de-escalate demand for computing, aiming for more moderate, responsible and meaningful use of computational infrastructures—including within HCI itself.