Shaolei Ren

Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of California, Riverside

AI Wonk contributor

Shaolei Ren is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, where he is also a cooperating faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2012. His research strives to build a sustainable and equitable society, broadly focusing on “AI + sustainability”. He received the U.S. NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, CAREER, in 2015.

Shaolei Ren's publications

Academia

There are many ways to minimise water use related to AI operations, but they may not be what you think

AI is surging not just in popularity and investment, but also in its physical scale. Behind every chatbot query or AI-powered service are data centres that consume large amounts of electricity, genera...

October 7, 2025 — 7 min read

Academia

How much water does AI consume? The public deserves to know

Air pollution and carbon emissions are well-known environmental costs of AI. But water consumption is also an issue.

November 30, 2023 — 8 min read

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