The Turing Point. Newsletter 42AI Impact and Governance #1
Data Centers, Scorched Earth?
Since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, artificial intelligence has seeped into every aspect of our daily lives at the speed of light. While its future remains unpredictable, society seems unlikely to step back from incorporating it in broader, more critical processes. With this situation in mind, we think it is now more crucial than ever to be well informed about the upheavals of modern technology. But when AI is brought up in the media, conversations around its stakes are scarce and often alarmist. That’s why 42AI is launching a newsletter dedicated to the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence.
The Turing Point is the newsletter of the Impact & Governance Hub of 42AI, the AI hub of the 42 school. Our ambition: to decode the transformations that AI imposes on society and to provide those who build it — and those who live with it — the keys to make informed decisions. Every two months, we break down AI news into several sections:
- In-depth articles written by members of 42AI or external contributors to help you understand complex topics.
- In Hal’s Eye, where we dissect an image to reveal its subtext.
- Press review, featuring essential news commented on by our editorial team.
- Our recommendations: exhibitions, readings, films, podcasts… to explore the themes discussed in other formats.
This structure (with occasional supplements if the news demands it) is the result of extensive collective reflection based on our ethical charter. The newsletter is designed as a toolbox — a space where everyone can find resources to fuel their thinking. It reflects our commitment to contributing to the debates surrounding our use of artificial intelligence. Without technophobia or techno-utopianism, but with curiosity and critical thinking. Welcome to The Turing Point.
A Word from the President
42AI has existed since 2017. In nearly ten years, the association has seen students who now lead companies, prepare theses at the ENS, found startups among the future 40 of Station F, or work at Hugging Face and Mistral. Alumni have become key players in the European AI ecosystem.
But 42AI is also a collective force. Open-source educational content, an applied research lab (real-time sign language translation, computer vision for CNRS, sentiment analysis during presidential elections), meetups, hackathons, conferences — each initiative helps structure a more open and demanding French and European AI ecosystem.
We have inherited all of this, and we take it seriously. That’s why we have surrounded ourselves with an advisory committee composed of alumni now at Hugging Face, Dataiku, CeSIA, H Company, and other key players. Those whom 42AI helped train are returning to guide its next steps.
It is in this spirit that we launch the Impact & Governance Hub, led by Ayrton Le Cossec and supported by an outstanding team: Nora Todeschini, Benjamin Karas, Emmanuel Réau, Imane Rakraki, Caroline Henry, Louis Fourneau, Gaston Fontagneu, and Amandine Devezis. This hub embodies a conviction: those who build AI must also consider its consequences. The Turing Point is its first expression.
Because when a model reformulates a medical diagnosis, when an algorithm decides access to credit, or when a generative tool produces an image indistinguishable from reality, these are societal choices. Making AI concrete, accessible, and readable. Encouraging critical thinking in an era where delegating reflection to a model is becoming the default reflex. That is the mission of this hub.
My invitation is simple: read these pages with a critical and open mind. Extend the reflection beyond this newsletter, into your projects, conversations, and choices. The impact of AI is built on how we collectively decide to seize it.
Happy reading.
Pierina Camarena, President of 42AI
Article — Carbon Footprint of AI Models
Let’s play The Price is Right. How much CO₂ does your ChatGPT query emit? A gram? 100? 10 tons? The answer is far from simple. According to data provided by Google regarding its AI Gemini, the environmental impact would be negligible. A simple query would cost the planet only a few milligrams of carbon and a tiny amount of water. But in reality, the answer depends mainly on the methodology used to calculate the impact, the complexity of the query, and the level of transparency from tech giants. In Q&A format, we explore whether AI and its data centers will leave us any water in the washbasin.
Article written by Benjamin Karas, student at 42 Paris and Climate Consultant
In Hal’s Eye: Resistance Even in the Metro
All over the Paris metro, such as here descending the stairs at Jaurès station, you might come face-to-face with large white panels bearing an enigmatic slogan: “I never cancel brunch!” Next to it, a gray sphere… with small demon horns and an ambiguous handwritten message: “AI is not your friend.” This would surely displease Avi Schiffmann, founder of friend.com.
In 2023, this 23-year-old American left Harvard to found his startup. Friend.com markets an AI integrated into a pendant designed to create an intimate bond with its wearer. A friend always by your side, for the modest sum of €112.80. In a movement of protest against yet another artifact diverting us from human social relationships, several of these advertising posters have been vandalized. On social media, the revolt against AI is echoing. Since 2024, several hashtags have circulated, including #NoToAI, revealing broader techno-critical movements against the omnipresence of AI. A general demand for more connections — between humans of flesh and blood — with each other.
Article — Can we teach chatbots how to be good ?
“Constitution.” This word evokes constituent assemblies (like in 1789 in France), where a sovereign people endows itself with supreme rules to limit arbitrariness. Applied to the AI agent Claude, it suggests that AI is no longer a mere technical tool but a real “entity.” As such, it must respect an ethical pact that takes precedence over human or commercial orders. But for whom does this really change things? Its user? Its competitors? Or Claude itself…
Article written by Nora Todeschini, student at 42 and Sciences Po Paris
Don’t Miss It… 42AI’s Press Review
DEADLY AI: An outdated database behind the US bombing of an Iranian school? (The Independent)
PENTA(I)GON: The Pentagon and OpenAI / Ultimatum to Anthropic
- OpenAI modifies its contract with the Pentagon, with Sam Altman admitting it seems “rushed.” (The Guardian)
- Our agreement with the Department of War (OpenAI)
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT: The founder of Open Claw recruited by Sam Altman
OOPSY… When an AI attacks a dev who refused its contribution to a code project (theshamblog.com)
We’ve talked a lot about the United States… But don’t forget that tech news never stops, from China to Nigeria to Colombia!
Article — AI and Healthcare: An Introduction
Between algorithmic performance and regulatory caution, the HAS (French National Authority for Health) has ruled: for AI in medicine, it will be “W.I.T.H. humans or nothing.” While machines sometimes surpass the practitioner’s eye in detecting pathologies, the French authority still refuses to delegate any legal responsibility to them. Our new article deciphers this ethical tug-of-war where administrative productivity gains currently outweigh diagnostic autonomy. Are we ready to sacrifice pure performance on the altar of human responsibility? Explore the behind-the-scenes of this highly monitored medical cohabitation.
Article written by Louis Fourneau, student at 42 Paris, graduate of Sciences Po Paris
The Editorial Team Recommends: Less I, More Noûs
From April 9 to 19, the François-Mitterrand site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris (13th arrondissement) will host the first edition of the Noûs Festival. A reflection on artistic creation in the age of AI. Noûs, in ancient Greek, refers to the mind, intellect, but above all, to that form of collective intelligence that transcends and connects us. For this festival, the BnF opens its digital library, rich with 10 million documents, to artists so they can make use of it. Here, AI serves to make data speak and “unearth the buried” rather than “create the false.”
“Facing the legitimate concerns of the cultural world, NOÛS stands as an ethical compass,” explains the festival. A statement that resonates with the 42AI editorial team, in a newsletter dedicated to the ethics of artificial intelligence… The program includes several original works, a cycle of conferences on the artistic, cultural, and ethical issues of AI, as well as a series of performances and screenings. The festival, in partnership with the media Fisheye, is free and open to all.
Don’t miss out! Stay updated on the latest news from 42AI and be the first to read the next Impact & Governance Hub newsletter. Follow us on LinkedIn and Medium.
Comments, suggestions? Would you like to contribute to this newsletter, to the Impact & Governance Hub, or simply exchange with us? Don’t hesitate to contact us: newsletter@42ai.fr
This page was written in French without AI assistance, and translated in English with the help of Mistral AI.
