Sustainability Questions , Linger Around AI's Use , of Vast Amounts of Water.
'The Independent' reports that just one of the sustainability questions circling around artificial intelligence is the amount of water it necessitates.
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In 2022, Microsoft alone reportedly used over 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water to operate its data centers.
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In 2022, Microsoft alone reportedly used over 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water to operate its data centers.
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The computational resources required by AI means that companies must operate massive server farms to keep the system running.
The computational resources required by AI means that companies must operate massive server farms to keep the system running.
'The Independent' reports that those server farms use vast quantities of water to cool themselves, a long-running concern for environmentalists.
'The Independent' reports that those server farms use vast quantities of water to cool themselves, a long-running concern for environmentalists.
Between 2021 and 2022, the amount of water used by Microsoft increased 34%, according to the company's most recent environmental report.
Between 2021 and 2022, the amount of water used by Microsoft increased 34%, according to the company's most recent environmental report.
The Associated Press first reported that the company's water consumption reached almost 1.7 billion gallons.
According to Google, its water use had increased 20% over the same period of time.
According to Google, its water use had increased 20% over the same period of time.
Google's water use varied across multiple data centers ranging across different areas of the U.S. .
Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside is among those working to document the environmental impact of AI.
Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside is among those working to document the environmental impact of AI.
According to Ren, every 5 to 50 questions posed to ChatGPT consumes an estimated 500 milliliters of water.
