Unexpectedly ChatGPT consumes large amounts of water

2023-11-09 2023-11-09T18:33:39Z

Weather of Arabia - Training artificial intelligence algorithms consumes huge amounts of energy, but what is new is that it also consumes large amounts of water, and this is what was revealed by a study conducted by researchers from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington. In a paper titled “Making AI Less Thirsty,” they review the environmental impact of AI training operations, which require not only large amounts of electricity but also huge amounts of water to cool data processing centers.

The study showed that generative AI systems, such as the popular ChatGPT bot, consume about half a liter (500 milliliters) of water for every 20 to 50 questions users ask.

This amount may not seem like a lot, but with the global use of ChatGPT robots and other generative artificial intelligence systems, the water consumption is enormous, said researcher Shaoli Ren from the University of California, in a research paper he prepared.

Ren said in statements to the Associated Press that the growth in water consumption in Microsoft's environmental report for the past year 2022 is mainly due to its development of artificial intelligence systems.

ChatGPT consumes large amounts of water

Microsoft is the majority shareholder in OpenAI, which is behind the ChatGPT bot and other AI tools.

Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and said it is working on ways to measure energy consumption and carbon footprint, and is also seeking to make its AI systems less energy-intensive, according to an AP report.

In the same context, OpenAI acknowledged the large consumption of water in its projects and expressed its commitment to solving this problem.

It is noteworthy that the ChatGPT bot relies on Microsoft servers, which, in turn, require fresh water for cooling and ensuring effective performance by setting an appropriate temperature.

New research shows that training AI systems consumes large amounts of water, not just huge amounts of electricity. Researchers from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington have prepared a paper discussing the environmental impact of artificial intelligence training, as this training requires huge amounts of energy and also tons of water to cool data processing centers.

Research shows that generative AI systems, such as the ChatGPT bot, consume about half a liter of water for every 20 to 50 questions they are asked. Although this may not seem like a large amount, with ChatGPT bots and other AI systems being widely used, water consumption becomes enormous.

Researcher Shaoli Ren from the University of California pointed out that Microsoft's 2022 environmental report revealed that the growth in water consumption is mainly due to the development of artificial intelligence systems. ChatGPT is primarily associated with Microsoft servers, which in turn need fresh water to cool the servers and maintain the appropriate temperature for efficient performance.