ChatGPT and its Water Footprint
By Han Hyunh
ChatGPT has proven to be one of the most impactful technological advancements which has made tremendous changes in many aspects, especially in terms of solving problems. Due to its enormous benefits, it gained an excessive number of users on the global scale right after it was released. However, AI models like ChatGPT “consume” a large amount of water to activate its systems to tackle questions. The environmental impacts caused by AI are tallying up, and the significant resource which is the backbone of all activities is being heavily taped to run the technology: water.
For every 20 to 50 questions, ChatGPT servers need to consume the equivalent of a 16.9 oz water bottle. Cooling these data on OpenAI’s ChatGPT is energy-intensive, and it requires incredible water resources for AI to generate these technological activities.
New research estimates that training for GPT-3 consumed 185,000 gallons (700,000 liters) of water. That’s enough water to produce 370 BMW cars or 320 Tesla electric vehicles, and the amount for water consumption could be increased if the training were completed in Microsoft’s data centers in Asia. It’s no secret that training AI programs and algorithms requires a significant amount of energy, as the more functions AI manages the more energy it consumes. The amount of computational power needed to train the most innovative AI tools like ChatGPT requires a lot of electricity and generates a lot of heat. Because of storing data in large-scale and training the learning model, the energy consumption is very high. To keep it cool, the data centers need to bump water, which poses enormous strain on the environment resources. When AI gets more complex, the more functions it manages that also expects to use incredible amounts of energy from the environment.
The data used by AI in the tech giants’ companies and individuals in these fields has been increasing dramatically. According to a recent update on September 25, 2023, ChatGPT’s new capabilities enables the chatbot to create conversations with users. In other words, consumers can use their voice to talk with ChatGPT and hear the artificial chatbot talk back. Many tech companies take advantage of ChatGPT’s numerous functions to run their business and create a more productive working environment. Amazon uses AI for e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence. Netflix, Tesla, Meta Platforms also utilize AI for content creation, handling customer complaints, solving problems and compiling research.
Notwithstanding the significant merits of ChatGPT on humankind, it is undoubted that it also consumes a large amount of energy in our environment.
