Debunking 3 AI Myths for Project Managers

With the growing interest in how AI is changing our world, some articles have emerged that are not based entirely on reality. It is fascinating how stories circulate and become exaggerated through social media. The truth is, we cannot predict the future, but we can understand the current facts.

Myth 1. You need a lot of data to make AI work. This most likely applies to the field of medicine, where errors can be costly. In project management, I conducted an academic literature review and identified 8 project management studies that used machine learning to establish statistical correlations. The range for the number of projects was 22 to 692, and the range of features (project characteristics) was from 4 to 44.

Myth 2. AI requires a lot of energy to function. This is probably based on recent headlines about the race to build data centers needed to make large language models (LLMs) more accurate and effective across a broader range of topics. There is more to AI than LLMs. I run a Python-coded machine learning clustering algorithm on my laptop. I use the neural network function in IBM SPSS software on my desktop computer with 108 project datasets containing 17 variables. This myth might be more accurate if stated as “some” AI-based apps might need a lot of energy. As for the future, many creative people are working to improve the performance of both hardware and software.

Myth 3. AI is contributing to climate change. This might be true if the major data center providers were running on fossil fuels. AWS invested in solar and wind energy projects and, in 2023, reached the goal of matching 100% of the electricity used in its global operations with renewable energy (AWS, 2025). Google claims they are the champion of clean energy. They achieved 100% renewable energy matching in 2017 and target 100% carbon-free emissions by 2030 for their data centers (Corio, 2022). Microsoft Azure, which hosts OpenAI, has LEED-certified data centers and plans to be carbon-neutral by 2030 (Microsoft, 2025).
AI is changing how organizations function and how project management works. Reliable information should always guide our progress.

References
Amazon Web Services. (2025). AWS Cloud – Sustainability: Our progress. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/products-services/aws-cloud sustainability.aboutamazon.com
Microsoft Corporation. (n.d.). Powering sustainable transformation. Microsoft Data Centers. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://datacenters.microsoft.com/globe/powering-sustainable-transformation/
Peterson Corio, A. (2022, June 23). Five years of 100% renewable energy – and a look ahead to a 24/7 carbon-free future. Google Cloud Blog. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/sustainability/5-years-of-100-percent-renewable-energy