Will the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology impact water resources? While there's currently insufficient research data to support this, there are signs that the development of AI will consume significant amounts of water. Even simply asking questions to the AI chatbot program "ChatGPT" consumes water.
According to the Associated Press, OpenAI, a US artificial intelligence research laboratory backed by multinational technology company Microsoft, requires large amounts of fresh water to cool its powerful supercomputers, allowing AI models like ChatGPT to operate normally.
Business Insider, an American news website, explains that regardless of the type of AI model being run, the training process consumes significant energy and generates considerable heat. Water can effectively lower the temperature of the relevant equipment. The main reason for using freshwater over seawater is that the salt content in seawater can cause corrosion in AI equipment, bacterial growth, and clog internal pipes.
The Associated Press also pointed out that Microsoft's water resources for developing artificial intelligence mostly come from the Raccoon River and Des Moines River basins in central Iowa. However, few people know that the Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) model developed by OpenAI was born in Iowa. After all, Microsoft has long revealed few specific details about the operation of its artificial intelligence data center. Until recently, a Microsoft executive stated in a speech that the data center is located "next to the corn fields west of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa." The public only then learned about the location of the Microsoft data center that supports the operation of ChatGPT.
How much water do tech giants actually consume?
In its newly released 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report, Microsoft revealed that its global water consumption increased by 34% from 2021 to 2022, equivalent to approximately 1.7 billion gallons of water, which is equivalent to the amount of water needed for more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), who studies how generative AI (like ChatGPT) impacts the natural environment, believes that the surge in water consumption by tech companies like Microsoft can be attributed to the development of artificial intelligence, including significant investments in generative AI and partnerships with OpenAI.
Ren's research team estimates that ChatGPT consumes 500 milliliters of water every time a user asks the chatbot 5 to 50 questions. The team also notes that their estimated water usage varies depending on the season and the location of the server room. The estimate also includes indirect water consumption that tech companies don't account for, such as cooling water used by power plants that supply data centers.
"Most people have no idea about the resource utilization of ChatGPT's underlying infrastructure, but if people don't understand how resources are used, they won't be able to save them effectively," said Ren Shaolei.
Business Insider quoted researchers as saying that while 500 milliliters of water may not seem like a lot, considering that ChatGPT is likely to be used by hundreds of millions of users, one can estimate the significant water demand of this AI. Some scientists even believe that Microsoft may have consumed 700,000 liters of water while training the Generative Pretrained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) model, and that as more complex models are developed, water consumption is likely to increase in the future.
Google also noted in its July 2023 environmental report that its latest annual water consumption increased by 20% compared to the same period last year. Ren Shaolei believes this is also related to the rise of artificial intelligence. The Associated Press also revealed that Google's surge in water use varies across regions. For example, in Oregon, a state currently experiencing widespread public concern about water scarcity, Google's water use has remained stable. However, outside of Las Vegas, water use has doubled, with Iowa being the heaviest consumer.
Have tech companies like Microsoft responded to this situation?
Microsoft recently told the Associated Press that it is increasing its internal research efforts to measure how to reduce AI's energy consumption and carbon footprint, while also striving to improve the training and application efficiency of large-scale AI operating systems.
"Microsoft will continue to monitor its carbon emissions and resource use, and will use and purchase more renewable energy to achieve its 2030 sustainability goals of being Carbon Negative, Water Positive, and Zero Waste," Microsoft said in a statement.
OpenAI issued a statement on September 8, 2023, emphasizing that it will "comprehensively consider" how to most efficiently use AI computing power. "We recognize that training large AI models can consume significant amounts of water and other energy resources, and we are working internally to improve resource efficiency," OpenAI said.
The West Des Moines Water Plant in Iowa, which supplies water to Microsoft's supercomputers, also revealed that in July 2022, a month before OpenAI announced the completion of GPT-4 training, Microsoft injected approximately 11.5 million gallons of water into its own artificial intelligence data center in Iowa, accounting for about 6% of Iowa's total water consumption.
Despite the high water consumption, the West Des Moines Water Plant still stated that Microsoft is a friendly partner. It has long cooperated with local governments to meet the needs of developing artificial intelligence while also striving to reduce its water footprint. Microsoft also emphasized that it will strengthen cooperation with the water plant to reduce water consumption.
Euronews notes that global freshwater demand will exceed 40% of sustainable supply by 2030. In the face of such water scarcity, all businesses must shoulder their social responsibility and lead by example by addressing current water waste. Furthermore, large tech companies must increase transparency in relevant data to allow for better scrutiny and assessment of the environmental impact of artificial intelligence.
Why did Microsoft choose Iowa as the location for ChatGPT?
The Associated Press noted that Iowa's cool climate for most of the year allows Microsoft to operate its supercomputers at a comfortable temperature and effectively dissipate heat from the computer room. Microsoft even emphasized that it only uses water to cool its equipment when the temperature exceeds 29.3°C, but outside observers have stated that this setting still consumes a large amount of water, especially in the summer.
Steve Gaer, the former mayor of West Des Moines, Iowa, believes Microsoft was initially attracted by the city's commitment to improving public infrastructure, leading the tech company to invest heavily in the city. "But you also know that Microsoft was very secretive about what they were doing here," Gaer told the Associated Press.
The news agency also revealed that Microsoft had stated in 2020 that it would develop the world's most powerful supercomputer for OpenAI, but at that time Microsoft refused to disclose the specific location of its operation to the outside world, describing it only as a "single operating system." It was not until late May 2023 that Microsoft President Brad Smith revealed that the company was building an artificial intelligence data center in Iowa specifically for training GPT-4.
The Associated Press also stated that Microsoft's choice of West Des Moines as the location for its artificial intelligence operations was primarily due to efficiency. Compared to Microsoft's data center in Arizona, West Des Moines is a relatively efficient place to train artificial intelligence systems because the latter can use more water resources to meet computing needs.
This article is reprinted with permission from Critical Commentary. The original title is "Chatting with AI also wastes water! ChatGPT consumes 500 ml of cooling water for every 5 to 50 questions answered." It is not licensed under the CC license.
References:
* Associated Press (September 10, 2023), Artificial intelligence technology behind ChatGPT was built in Iowa — with a lot of water
* Associated Press (October 26, 2021), Big tech data centers spark worry over scarce Western water
50 questions you ask, researchers say
* Microsoft, 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report
* Google (July 2023), 2023 Environmental Report
Source: Environmental Information Center
