Visualizing the Carbon Intensity of Machine Learning Inference for Image Analysis on TensorFlow Hub
Yoo, Taewon, Lee, Hyunmin, Oh, SeungYoung, Kwon, Hyosun, and Jung, Hyunggu
In Companion Publication of the 2023 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 2023
The increasing performance of machine learning (ML) models necessitates greater computing resources, contributing to rising carbon intensity in ML computing and raising concerns about computational equity. Previous studies focused on developing tools that enable model developers to view the carbon intensity of the ML models in the training process. Still, little is known about how to support ML developers in online communities to explore the carbon intensity of ML models during inference. We developed MIEV, a model inference emission visualizer, that supports ML developers on TensorFlow Hub to explore the carbon intensity of image domain models during the model Inference phase. We also provide insights into designing technologies that promote collaborative work among ML developers to drive sustainable AI development processes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to interactively visualize the carbon intensity of ML models in online communities during the Inference phase.