AI is NOT guzzling water!
Source lnkd.inThe great Ben Evans posted this:
Posting for reference: the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates 2023 US data centre water withdrawal at 66bn liters (17.4bn gallons). With all this investment, that might triple in the next few years. Big number!
But total US freshwater withdrawal is 102tr gallons a year. Data centres were about 0.017% of total US water withdrawal.
This can be a local planning issue, if you build in the wrong place. But the idea that AI overall is using lots of water is nonsense.
Sources: https://lnkd.in/gdnafw4z, https://lnkd.in/gaEmrn2T
Fun comparison: a kilo of almonds uses 10-15k liters of water, which is (roughly) a backyard swimming pool. A ChatGPT query uses a fraction of a teaspoon.
If you want, I can also transcribe the comments below the post or provide a direct summary of the argument being made. Let me know how you would like to proceed.
Nearby leaves, connected by subject and form.