Just read that AI training can use more water than a small town

I was looking at a report from the University of California, Riverside yesterday. It said training a single large AI model can use over 300,000 liters of water just to cool the data centers. That's the same as the water used to make over 1,000 cars. I had no idea the environmental cost was that high. It makes me wonder if we're thinking about this right. Has anyone seen real numbers on how much energy and water newer models actually use?

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the_oscar6mo ago

Wow, that number is actually insane. I saw a breakdown last month showing newer models are even worse because they train on way more data. Some companies are trying to use outside air cooling or build data centers in colder places, but it's still a massive hidden cost. Makes you question if all these AI features are really worth draining reservoirs for.

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patricia424mo ago

Plus the water used for manufacturing those chips is a whole other thing entirely.

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evangarcia6mo ago

That's a crazy amount of water we never hear about.

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