Is artificial intelligence (AI) stealing our drinking water?
Artificial intelligence (AI) now uses more bottled water than humans, mainly to cool its servers. But how is this possible, given that its use of water is so different from ours? Moreover, is a water war on the horizon — not between humans, but between humans and these proliferating machines?
According to a recent study, the considerable ‘water footprint’ of artificial intelligence will exceed human consumption of bottled water on the planet by 2025, ranging from 312.5 to 764.6 billion litres. Water consumption is growing rapidly as the AI sector expands, primarily for use in cooling systems. In addition to direct consumption, there is also indirect consumption — for example, the water used to produce the electricity that powers the servers. The water used in cooling systems must be very pure to prevent corrosion and fouling, so it is mainly sourced from drinking water networks. With a quarter of the world’s population still lacking access to clean drinking water, such usage raises questions and sometimes provokes outrage.
Source: philosophie magazine (French)
