Are You Killing The Environment? AI’s dark secret:

By: Serafina Jaffer
International School of Tanganyika
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Everyone always talks about how AI is destroying the minds of the younger generation and how we’re becoming too dependent on it. However, that's not the real issue. Asking ChatGPT to write you one email is equivalent to powering 14 light bulbs for an hour. But it's not AI destroying the planet, it's you. Today, I will be uncovering the truth of how AI is wrecking the environment.

AI runs on servers that are kept in hot data centers. These data centers are the brains of AI, which means they generate a lot of heat. To prevent overheating, they utilize cooling systems that consume a large amount of water. Around 9 litres of water can be used for every kWh (kilowatt-hour) of energy in these systems, which is almost 5x more than the daily amount of water people should drink. Additionally, most of the electricity needed for AI to run comes from water-intensive power plants, meaning each AI prompt indirectly consumes water through energy generation. Another factor to consider is that AI needs semiconductor chips, which are made through water-intensive processes. Producing even one semiconductor wafer can consume thousands of litres of pure water to purify and mold the small circuits. To summarise, AI needs to consume large amounts of water to cool these data centers, generate power for AI to run, and produce hardware essentials.

How can we help:
Firstly, we can develop more efficient data centers that don't require huge quantities of water and enhance AI algorithms to be more efficient, using less processing energy. Secondly, we can turn to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. And most importantly, we need to raise awareness by educating those who don't know about the water impacts of AI and encouraging companies to cut down their water consumption.