Every time someone talks to ChatGPT for 20 exchanges or so ...
... Microsoft's servers use a half-liter of freshwater to cool down
AI is *thirsty*
My essay on some implications of this: https://clivethompson.medium.com/ai-is-thirsty-37f99f24a26e
A "friend" link, in case you don't subscribe to Medium: https://clivethompson.medium.com/ai-is-thirsty-37f99f24a26e?sk=f5b2ea10c649a34236577139fecfd86a
Thank you for this work and helping raise the alarm.
Related ICYMI:
Yes! Those stats -- Google's use of water in The Dalles tripling over five years -- are pretty intense
What's more, the fact that the newspaper had to *sue* the *city* to compel the city to release those figures illustrates one of the big problems in grappling with the water use of data centers ...
If cities seriously priced their scarce freshwater at what it's worth, it'd give tech firms a reason to be more efficient
But cities don't
Taken from Season 4 Episode 12 Episode Name: Marge Vs. The Monorail Visit or subscribe to my YouTube Channel for other high quality classic Simpsons clips.
Clive Thompson
Michael Downey 🧢