No AI on a Dead Planet: Sentiment and Emotion Analysis Across Reddit Communities on AI and the Environment

Abstract

This paper investigates how different online communities perceive and discuss the environmental impact of AI through sentiment analysis and emotion detection. We analyze Reddit discussion from r/artificial and r/climatechange, using pre-trained models fine-tuned on social media data. Our analysis reveals distinct patterns in how these communities engage with AI's environmental implications: the AI community demonstrates a shift from predominantly neutral and positive sentiment in posts to more balanced perspectives in comments, while the climate community maintains a more critical stance throughout discussions. The findings contribute to our understanding of how different communities conceptualize and respond to the environmental challenges of AI development.