A ‘thirsty’ AI boom could deepen Big Tech’s water crisis 

I had never thought of the connection between AI and the water crisis before. This video really opened my eyes.

Aren't the smart alternatives obvious? Politically and geologically stable, water rich and cold places like Canada and Norway should be perfect for new data centres. These countries have excellent infrastructure, too. Build cities on top of these data centres to use the excessive heat smartly, too. The amount of energy spent for heating alone in Northern areas is insane. By heating sand batteries, like in Finland, excessive summer heat can also be harvested again in winter. We have solutions, but are we willing to prioritize spending more money to burning down our habitat?

AI is not only taking our job, Its taking away our water also.

It is not drinking water. Its using that for cooling. How it affects local source.

nothing quite like flying to the desert in a private jet to tell us how AI is using too much water and we need to cutback 😂😂

Thanks to the central planning from Washington DC, Big Tech plans on moving to Arizona to make chips thanks to the Chips Act... I am sure it be all go swimmingly, what could go wrong?

What does this have to do with water? They are not replacing the water all the time. They put the water in there 1 time. They are not always changing it.

We need new meta materials that have better cooling properties. The materials we have today will not do in the world of tomorrow. If we can keep bucking the trend we can reach a sort of zero point breakthrough in cooling 👁️

I apologize for my dumb question but I can't help wondering if they can use sea water to cool data centers?

Just build all of them in north Canada

This requires billion views not16K

Does the water have to be freshwater? We have a ton of cold saltwater….

Thanks for the video. Wasn’t something I was aware of

This is perfect, the 1% don’t have to worry about their beach houses, being swallowed by the ocean.

Why don’t they build these data centers at higher elevations???

what about using Ocean water and mitigate corrosion risks by changing parts frequently?

Water is recycled. It can be in closed loop and heat exchange used. I think when talking about water, one should not forget recycling. Besides, water is not lost space.

It means someone has to increase investments in Waterbased Projects.

What about solutions based on Vapor Compression Refrigeration systems powered by nuclear energy? That way you wouldn't waste so much water.

Isnt the water being reused those?

Build Data centers in Antarctica.

Huh? That’s crazy but I love water and I’m real. A.I isn’t. Leave my water alone.

Water never will be disappeared because somwhere water usage is much more. Not to worry.

Why not use the ocean water for cooling? I know it do have a high salt percentage which will increase the maintenance cost and will reduce the life of the equipments but other than that it seems like they're not willing to do it just because they can get away by using the non-ocean water bodies which is cheaper for them but not for the ecosystem.

More of the same. We’re fucked🤦🏻‍♂️

How do you replenish more water than you use? Is there a reverse of water that they are going to give back that isn't accounted for?

So they can not reuse it? Like how long doesn't it take to cool the used water? A night?

Your acting like the water disappears when they use it for the cooling process, It just turns into its gas form. The water is still there, matter cannot be created or destroyed.

i don't undestand, heating up water does not make it improper for human water use

Interesting.

⭕When you purposely forget to say that tech companies dont need clean drinking water. And the water can be recycled ♻️

How about we ask AI for solutions, oh wait a second. Distributed computing is one solution, it might mitigate the water issue but not the energy use problem.

Things We Learn Everyday 😳

VOCABULARY FROM VIDEO: Kudos to CNBC International for this insightful video. It highlights the substantial water footprint of big Tech's AI, raising awareness about the environmental impact. VOCABULARY: 0. Water Footprint (noun phrase) 01:01 -Context: 'Little-known details like this help shine a light on big Tech's water footprint.' -Explanation: Water footprint refers to the total volume of freshwater used, directly and indirectly, to support a particular activity or produce goods. 1. Environmental Sustainability (noun phrase) 01:49 -Context: 'Microsoft disclosed in its latest environmental sustainability report.' -Explanation: Environmental sustainability involves practices that preserve and protect the natural environment, ensuring resources are used in a way that meets present and future needs. 2. Water Scarcity (noun phrase) 02:58 -Context: 'Water scarcity is a big problem on every continent, exacerbated by the climate crisis.' -Explanation: Water scarcity refers to the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. 3. Regulators (noun) 05:19 -Context: 'Regulators may need to become more heavy-handed in terms of asking companies to disclose water usage.' -Explanation: Regulators are government bodies responsible for controlling and supervising specific activities, ensuring compliance with established rules and standards. 4. Water Withdrawal (noun phrase) 06:05 -Context: 'Global AI demand could be accountable for up to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal by 2027.' -Explanation: Water withdrawal is the total amount of water removed from a water source, often for human use or industrial processes. 5. Generative AI (noun phrase) 07:34 -Context: 'Avoid using generative AI because those are generally more resource-consuming compared to a simple search.' -Explanation: Generative AI refers to AI systems that create new content, such as text, images, or music, based on patterns learned from existing data. I posted more learning listening video on my youtube too!❤❤❤

What has water got to do with AI?

Microsoft uses ChatGPT and is not currently a competitor..

Am I the only one who spent the entire video asking “Where does the water go???” Surely the data centers aren’t drinking it…

😂

This is too doom gloom. The water isn’t gone for forever if it’s used for cooling it will either evaporate or it will be circulated. Meaning sewage system, recollected, cleaned and distributed. Why didn’t you talk about some of the positive projects going on? Seems like you didn’t want to spend the time there. Microsoft placed a small batch of servers in the ocean to test passive cooling via ocean currents. With more 50% of the world’s population living near a coast, it could be a great way to tackle the land use issue and any energy costs for cooling. This also works well because it could increase their margins on their products. This AI will help cure cancer and we are worried about the water consumption like it disappears, seems like a weird problem to focus on right now.

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We need Trump

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False 100% 👎👎👎👎👎👎

What about the massive positive impact that technology in general has. When thanks to tech we don't need to write on paper anymore, or commute to work, or simply reduce countless procedures to a few clicks (banking, for example). This seems like an emotional piece trying to outrage viewers, without providing a real context of the massive positive environmental aspects of tech.

bro i thought it was about ai girlfriends