ChatGPT Needs To 'Drink' 500ml Of Water For At Least Every 5 Prompts. Here's What Can Be Done To Reduce AI's 'Thirst'

Microsoft's data centre water usage increased by 34 per cent from 2021 to 2022, consuming over 1.7 billion gallons, equivalent to filling more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Possible solutions to this issue include developing more efficient algorithms and hardware to reduce the energy requirements of AI models. ( Image Source :Peter H/Pixabay )

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard are gaining popularity, but they come at an eye-watering (pun intended) environmental cost. Microsoft, for instance, witnessed a steep 34 per cent surge in water consumption from 2021 to 2022, amounting to almost 1.7 billion gallons. This increase is closely tied to the company's AI research efforts. Generative AI is known to be water-intensive, requiring approximately half a litre of water for every five-to-50