The hidden water cost of AI products like ChatGPT

AI is an rising expertise that, and huge language fashions like ChatGPT and Bing AI are pushing the expertise to hundreds of customers globally each single day.

However, to maintain mentioned companies working, behind the scenes, they require loads of computing sources that eat electrical energy, alonside water to maintain the computer systems cool.

To create Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, OpenAI used a supercomputer in Iowa that wanted loads of water to chill down. The water got here from the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, that are very important sources of consuming water within the area.

According to Microsoft’s current environmental report, its international water consumption rose by 34 p.c from 2021 to 2022, and the rise is essentially attributed to its AI analysis. “It’s fair to say the majority of the growth is due to AI,” together with “its heavy investment in generative AI and partnership with OpenAI,” mentioned Shaolei Ren, a researcher on the University of California, Riverside, by way of APNews.

Microsoft and OpenAI usually are not the one ones utilizing water for AI analysis. Google, one other chief within the discipline, additionally reported a 20 p.c improve in water use from 2021 to 2022, which researchers attribute to its AI-related work.

Microsoft and OpenAI have said that they’re dedicated to decreasing their carbon footprint and water utilization, however they haven’t disclosed the particular particulars of their AI operations. Researchers have tried to estimate the water consumption of ChatGPT, discovering that it makes use of about half a litre of water for each 5 to 50 queries.

Read the entire report right here.

Source: APNews