5 ms·

AI technology behind ChatGPT built was in Iowa – with a lot of water

9 points by pg_1234 3y ago

avery17 3y ago
I don't get it... Can't you recycle this water back into the cooling loop? Its not disappearing, its just coming out the other side warmer.... This screams of fear mongering.
- MrLeap 3y ago
  Yeah I can imagine ways where server farm water "consumption" could strain infrastructure, but this does seem like a.. very solvable problem.
- Legend2440 3y ago
  Anything "AI bad" gets clicks.
rvz 3y ago
The energy wastage here is exactly what I was talking about to many AI bros here who continue to consume tons of water from rivers to be used for inefficient training and inference operations which completely burns the planet. This isn't the first time this was reported either so it is a problem [0] [1] still unsolved for years by the deep learning community over finding production-grade efficient methods that doesn't require tons of water and data centers. Don't give me the 'but it is useful' excuses for deep learning when you have no efficient inference methods or alternative training operations that are efficient and reduces 99.999% of energy usage which other problematic industries such as petrol / diesel cars [2], crypto [3], etc have done so with new efficient alternative technologies available today to counter their CO2 that they have contributed. [0] https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/ai-chatgpt-water-usage-environment-study-b1073866.html https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/ai-chatgpt-water-usage-envir... [1] https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-water-185000-gallons-training-nuclear-1850324249 https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-water-185000-gallons-training... [2] https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/are-electric-vehicles-definitely-better-climate-gas-powered-cars https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/are-electric-vehicles-defini... [3] https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/ethereum-blockchain-eliminates-99-99-of-its-carbon-footprint-overnight-after-a-successful-merge-according-to-new-report/ https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/ethereum-blockchain...
- impulser_ 3y ago
  I believe every major tech company runs their data centers on renewable energy and are carbon neutral. What they tend to do is build a data center and then build renewable energy project on the same grid as their data center so those project feed in the same energy that the data center are using making them carbon neutral. They do similar things for water. They try to use wastewater, and return more than they use. If you are mad about this water usage, you should check out other industries, and most of those companies couldn't careless about how much water they use.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
ShamelessC 3y ago
was built*

9 points by pg_1234 3y ago

I don't get it... Can't you recycle this water back into the cooling loop? Its not disappearing, its just coming out the other side warmer.... This screams of fear mongering.

MrLeap 3y ago
Yeah I can imagine ways where server farm water "consumption" could strain infrastructure, but this does seem like a.. very solvable problem.
Legend2440 3y ago
Anything "AI bad" gets clicks.

rvz 3y ago

The energy wastage here is exactly what I was talking about to many AI bros here who continue to consume tons of water from rivers to be used for inefficient training and inference operations which completely burns the planet. This isn't the first time this was reported either so it is a problem [0] [1] still unsolved for years by the deep learning community over finding production-grade efficient methods that doesn't require tons of water and data centers. Don't give me the 'but it is useful' excuses for deep learning when you have no efficient inference methods or alternative training operations that are efficient and reduces 99.999% of energy usage which other problematic industries such as petrol / diesel cars [2], crypto [3], etc have done so with new efficient alternative technologies available today to counter their CO2 that they have contributed. [0] https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/ai-chatgpt-water-usage-environment-study-b1073866.html https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/ai-chatgpt-water-usage-envir... [1] https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-water-185000-gallons-training-nuclear-1850324249 https://gizmodo.com/chatgpt-ai-water-185000-gallons-training... [2] https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/are-electric-vehicles-definitely-better-climate-gas-powered-cars https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/are-electric-vehicles-defini... [3] https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/ethereum-blockchain-eliminates-99-99-of-its-carbon-footprint-overnight-after-a-successful-merge-according-to-new-report/ https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/ethereum-blockchain...

impulser_ 3y ago
I believe every major tech company runs their data centers on renewable energy and are carbon neutral. What they tend to do is build a data center and then build renewable energy project on the same grid as their data center so those project feed in the same energy that the data center are using making them carbon neutral. They do similar things for water. They try to use wastewater, and return more than they use. If you are mad about this water usage, you should check out other industries, and most of those companies couldn't careless about how much water they use.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

ShamelessC 3y ago

was built*