Artificial intelligence (AI) not only raises fears for jobs and human rights, but it also risks having a huge impact on the environment.
Experts estimate that the demand for AI will increase groundwater or surface water withdrawal to between 4.2 and 6.6billion cubic meters by 2027.
This is roughly half the amount consumed by the United Kingdom each year.
Moreover, the boom in generative AI could increase the demand for energy and water even more.
The issue lies in the so-called large language models that are at the heart of the new technology and are capable of processing large amounts of textual, numerical and other data.
To function, these models require huge amounts of computing power and the use of server farms that employ chilled water, some of which can be reused, to cool equipment by absorbing heat from the air.
The Financial Times reports that in 2022 the growing use of data centers led to an increase in water consumption of 34% for Microsoft, 22% for Google and 3% for Meta.
Overall, according to the International Energy Agency, datacentres, cryptocurrencies and AI accounted for almost twopercent of global electricity demand in 2022.
This figure could double by 2026 to reach almost the electricityconsumption of Japan.
Sam Altman, the father of ChatGPT, raised the alarm at the WorldEconomic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, saying an energy breakthrough is needed in order to power future AI.
The OpenAI CEO also said, however, that this breakthrough should be powered by climate-friendly energy sources such as nuclear fusion or the cheaper solar power.
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