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🔆 Stay hydrated: AI's thirst for water
ChatGPTs hidden water bill, global regulation loopholes, and Big Tech's vows to water positivity.
Allegra Guinan & Emma G Moller
August 29, 2024
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🗞️ Issue 33 // ⏱️ Read Time: 5 min
Hello 👋
Just as plastic revolutionized industries and daily life in the 20th century, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping our world today. However, the rapid adoption of plastic led to unforeseen environmental consequences, such as microplastics in vital human organs 🧠. As we embrace AI, we have the opportunity to learn from history to avoid repeating the same ecological mistakes. By 2030, energy requirements for AI are projected to surge by 160%, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable practices in AI development and deployment. This is part one of three on AI’s environmental impact, and we are starting with the resource we all need to survive: Water.
In this week's newsletter
What we’re talking about: The significant water consumption of AI systems and data centers, and its implications for global water resources.
How it’s relevant: As AI technology rapidly advances and becomes more integrated into our daily lives, its environmental impact, particularly on water resources, is growing. Understanding this impact is crucial for developing sustainable AI practices.
Why it matters: Water scarcity is a pressing global issue, and AI's increasing water footprint could exacerbate this problem. By addressing AI's water consumption now, we can work towards more sustainable technological advancement and help preserve our most vital resource.
Big tech news of the week…
🌍 A Reuters review of over 50 tender documents posted over the past year showed that 11 Chinese entities have sought access to restricted advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence capabilities through a loophole in regulation.
⚖️ The Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov was detained in France over the weekend over allegations relating to the lack of moderation in the messaging app. The arrest is part of a bigger investigation into child pornography, drug sales, fraud and other criminal activities on the platform.
👍️ This is not exactly news, but a recommendation for those exploring AI products: Common Sense Media’s AI product reviews are contextual, including consideration of the social landscape, how different GenAI products work and their biggest risks.
The Issue
AI relies heavily on data centres, which require massive amounts of water for cooling. Reports show that an average data centre consumes around 300,000 gallons (approximately 1.14 million litres) of water daily, which is comparable to the daily usage of 1,000 U.S. households.
AI's water footprint includes both water withdrawal (freshwater taken from sources) and water consumption (water not returned to the environment). While withdrawal indicates competition for water resources, consumption reflects the long-term impact on water availability, both crucial for understanding AI's full environmental impact.
Water covers approximately 70% of the planet - so it seems we shouldn’t worry too much about running out of it, right? The thing is, only 3% of that water is freshwater: The kind of water that we can drink to quench our thirst, and use to irrigate our farms. Only one-third of that freshwater is available to us, as the rest is safely frozen in glaciers - meaning that we cannot consume it.
Why does AI need water?
AI computations generate significant heat. Data centres use two main types of cooling systems: cooling towers and outside air cooling. Both use water, either through evaporation in cooling towers or for humidity control in air cooling systems. The more powerful the AI systems, the more heat generated, and the more water needed for cooling.