How much water does AI consume?
3/28/20269 min
As Artificial Intelligence continues to expand rapidly, some people have raised concerns about its potential environmental impact - in particular its use of water, which is used to cool both data centres and the power generators that supply them with electricity.
One recent book on AI contained the alarming prediction that AI could consume between 4 and 6 trillion litres a year by 2027. Could this eye-popping figure be right? If not, what is the correct figure, and is it a big number?
The devil, as ever, is in the detail, and with the help of expert Alex de Vries-Gao, the More or Loss team has taken a deep dive to get to the truth about AI and water consumption.
If you’ve seen a number in the news and you think More or Less should take a look, email the team on moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producer / Reporter: Nathan Gower Series Producer: Tom Colls Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Dave O’Neil Editor: Richard Vadon
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First 90 secondsNathan Gower0:00
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Charlotte McDonald· Host0:35
[gentle music] Hello, and thanks for downloading the More or Less podcast. We're the program that looks at the numbers in the news and in life and in AI water consumption. I'm Charlotte McDonald. [gentle music] When you sit in front of an AI chatbot and start typing away, the responses appear on your screen like magic. Information apparently springing out of fresh air. The truth is, of course, very different. When we send our queries off, these are dealt with by a vast network of data centers which whir into action to come up with the answers. These data centers contain servers, which themselves contain processing chips. Those run on electricity from the power grid and as they operate, they generate lots of heat and need to be cooled to prevent overheating. Both electricity generation