With AI in more and more conversations, and not all of them positive, assistant editor, Ana Lambert, investigates how the industry can utilise AI sustainably.
With how automated the print industry is becoming, you may not realise that you are using AI until you are told your software or machine relies on it.
Though still relatively new in the printing industry, but with the right implementation and sustainable practices, AI will become a useful tool for the industry among all areas.
What is artificial intelligence? 
Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that are capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, decision-making and perception.
It encompasses a wide-range of technologies, including machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) and natural language processing (NLP). For the printing industry, for those pieces of software or machinery that were to incorporate AI into its systems, would use ML, as this subset of AI involved training algorithms on data to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed.
For instance, AI’s ML embedded into a printer could mean fewer errors would be made, including better printing quality, more control over the print heads and utilising the media used more.
The environmental impact of AI
AI is a driving force in technology prowess and innovation. This is also applicable for the machinery and software that the print industry uses. However, this usage of AI, even unconsciously, does affect the environment, as a report by Goldman Sachs identified that a ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times more electricity than a Google search does.
However, depending on that software utilising it, AI isn’t always so environmentally damaging. The print industry, in its infancy of using AI can adapt
its practices of it – along with printing processes – to create a more sustainable industry as a whole.
What does AI do for the print industry?
The print industry doesn’t necessarily rely on AI as a single entity, for instance how the cyber security industry does, though it is a useful tool to be incorporated into existing systems, machinery and processes.
As the industry expands its horizons, so too is AI within it. AI does not stop at the design stage, but continues through to productions and warehousing, creating more efficiency, creativity and individuality. Within the industry AI is already managing workflows as well. This was seen at drupa 2024, software tools that can automatically check and calculate inquiries, monitor processes and make inventory management easier, along with leading to less machine downtime.
A company that is providing these AI-driven processes is Clarity Software, who provides the digital backbone for thousands of print and signage businesses across the UK. By automating the workflow from estimation to production, the system is designed to create a ‘right first time’ culture.
In the context of sustainability, Clarity’s role is to use data and increasingly intelligent algorithms to minimise the two biggest contributors to the industry’s carbon footprint: material waste and unnecessary energy consumption.
AI is not just about generating content; it is about optimising the physical production process to ensure resources are used as efficiently as possible and Clarityis allowing print companies the chance to operate in a more efficient way.
Sam Yarnall, sales and marketing director at Clarity Software, said: “We are moving towards a future where software doesn’t just manage financial cost, it manages carbon cost.
“Smart production scheduling allows businesses to batch jobs more effectively, meaning machines aren’t sitting idle or heating up for inefficient single runs.
“By optimising the production flow, AI helps sign makers reduce their daily energy consumption without impacting their lead times.”
The benefits of AI within printing processes have been covered above, but what does that mean for the print industry as a whole?
AI and the print industry 
Sustainability is a hugely growing focus for the industry, and as a tool AI is supporting these goals. One of the ways that printers are meeting sustainability needs is to limit the material waste that they produce when manufacturing products.
AI can support a reduction on material waste, by having systems detect real-time defects, reduce misprints, optimise ink usage and track environmental impact.
Sam added: “The conversation around AI and the environment often gets stuck on the energy usage of data centres, but for the print industry, the immediate impact is far more tangible.
“The single biggest environmental cost in wide-format is substrate waste. Intelligent nesting and estimation algorithms are critical here. They ensure that print businesses are squeezing every millimetre of value out of a roll, drastically reducing the amount of vinyl and rigid media that ends up in the skip.”
These AI innovations have helped to address several persistent challenges in the industry, including printing errors, materials waste and more
customised output.
Sam continued: “Sustainability isn’t just about swapping to PVC-free materials; it is about stopping errors before they hit the production floor. An MIS
powered by accurate data prevents the ‘re-print culture’ that plagues the industry.
“If intelligent software can flag a potential sizing mismatch or stock issue at the quoting stage, we save the ink, the energy and the media of a failed
job. That efficiency is the most practical form of sustainability we have.”
The print industry’s future with AI
Looking towards the future, AI’s place within the industry is becoming more and more intrinsic and therefore more crucial to the operating of machinery and printers.
The environmental impact is still, and should be, a cause for utilising AI in the right way, to make the industry more sustainable and greener for not only future generations who enter the industry, but also to promote the industry’s successes in sustainable milestones.
In the end, AI is a friend of the printing industry’s sustainability focus, but it still needs to be used in the right way, and as software and machinery
manufacturers create technology with AI, creation must include sustainability at its core.
