Artificial intelligence is fast becoming as popular as a Google search or an Instagram post. ChatGPT and other large language AI models have an environmental problem.
When we use AI the information has to be generated by a machine, it does not appear out of thin air. The data centres need to be kept cool to prevent them from overheating they need a large amount of water in order to keep them cool.
This may not sound a lot but if you imagine the whole world using ChatGPT to write a short email, then that is a considerable amount of water.
An increasingly large amount of the world is experiencing drought or water shortages. If the tech world does not find a fix for AI’s thirst then it is hard to see how AI can be environmentally friendly.
Google’s new UK headquarters is a very big building right in the middle of King’s Cross, wedged in between the station and the picturesque Regents Canal. The building is going to be a centre for innovation and AI when it opens.
Google claims that the King Cross building will help make the company “carbon free by 2030,” they say that the UK HQ will be their most “ambitious smart building to date.” With Google’s Gemini set to be developed in that very same environmentally friendly building some may see it as lip service to a much greater problem.
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Standfirst
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HeadlineAI’s need for water
Short HeadlineIt takes ChatGPT half a litre of water to write a small email
StandfirstAI is very thirsty, while Google's new King's Cross building is environmentally friendly.
Artificial intelligence is fast becoming as popular as a Google search or an Instagram post. ChatGPT and other large language AI models have an environmental problem.
When we use AI the information has to be generated by a machine, it does not appear out of thin air. The data centres need to be kept cool to prevent them from overheating they need a large amount of water in order to keep them cool.
This may not sound a lot but if you imagine the whole world using ChatGPT to write a short email, then that is a considerable amount of water.
An increasingly large amount of the world is experiencing drought or water shortages. If the tech world does not find a fix for AI’s thirst then it is hard to see how AI can be environmentally friendly.
Google’s new UK headquarters is a very big building right in the middle of King’s Cross, wedged in between the station and the picturesque Regents Canal. The building is going to be a centre for innovation and AI when it opens.
Google claims that the King Cross building will help make the company “carbon free by 2030,” they say that the UK HQ will be their most “ambitious smart building to date.” With Google’s Gemini set to be developed in that very same environmentally friendly building some may see it as lip service to a much greater problem.
