AI Innovation Leads To Massive Overuse of Water
Shaolei Ren 23 Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside November 30, 2023 OECD.AI https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/how-much-water-does-ai-consume - LR
Water withdrawal refers to freshwater taken from the ground or surface water sources, either temporarily or permanently, and then used for agricultural, industrial or municipal uses. On the other hand, water consumption is defined as “water withdrawal minus water discharge”, and means the amount of water “evaporated, transpired, incorporated into products or crops, or otherwise removed from the immediate water environment”. While the evaporated water still stays within our planet just like any other matter, it may go somewhere else and further contribute to the already uneven distribution of global water resources. By default, water footprint refers to water consumption. But water withdrawal is also a crucial metric and indicates the level of competition and dependence on water resources among different sectors. Indeed, electricity generation is among the top sectors for water withdrawal in many countries. The global AI demand may even require 4.2 – 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of 4 – 6 Denmark or half of the United Kingdom. If the U.S. hosts half of the global AI workloads, the operation of AI may take up about 0.5 – 0.7% of its total annual water withdrawal. Simultaneously, the total scope-1 and scope-2 water consumption of global AI could exceed 0.38 – 0.60 billion cubic meters, i.e., roughly evaporating the annual water withdrawal of half of Denmark or 2.5 – 3.5 Liberia.