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> how AI threatens natural resources for billions. The article rests on the claim that water usage of data centers on continent X threaten water availability f

> how AI threatens natural resources for billions. The article rests on the claim that water usage of data centers on continent X threaten water availability for humans on continent Y. I hope you can see how self-evidently illogical that is. The article tries to bend logic into a narrative it is trying to push. > This was from United Nations and it was flagged. Indeed! It exposes a level of lack of rigor and critical thinking which is astounding - this is meant to be an organization that thinks clearly, which it clearly does not.

ses1984 2mo ago
What do you think people on continent x are going to do if there is water on continent y but not continent x…?
- andsoitis 2mo ago
  desalinate.
  - no-name-here 2mo ago
    Doesn’t desalination require very large amounts of electricity, something that AI also requires large amounts of? Are we at the point where we are no longer concerned with electricity demand outstripping supply? (Let alone the pollution caused by in-place power plants - are we near to getting rid of those?)
    - tancop 2mo ago
      Solar is incredibly cheap and it's a perfect match for desalination because you can scale the water flow based on available power. And the places that need it the most are deserts with a lot of sunshine and empty land. We're at a point where generating power is almost never the issue. The actual problem is making the desalination tech itself cheap and easy to maintain so poor countries can afford it. Right now it's only a large scale thing in relatively rich and tech advanced states like Saudi or Israel.
    - HappMacDonald 2mo ago
      Honestly power isn't even the biggest problem with desalination, it's the spectacular volume of brine commensurate with the volume of clean water you are trying to extract: figuring out both how to dispose of it without creating new environmental hazards and constantly repairing/replacing the machinery which must filter and plumb that caustic sludge. Which is all to say in addition to the crazy energy demands of desalinization, there are also problems that dwarf those.
- stonedivot 2mo ago
  Since you think it's so obvious, please elaborate on what those people on continent x will do
  - ses1984 2mo ago
    Make their problem everyone else’s problem.
  - inigyou 2mo ago
    Go to the continent with more water so they can live in a place with more water (as they can't bring the water back - it's too big and too heavy). The people in continent Y are likely to use extreme violence to stop this from happening, like we see today in the Mediterranean sea where thousands of people are murdered every year.
  - deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
  - dandellion 2mo ago
    The same thing they always do?
- mastermage 2mo ago
  let me add especially if one country in continent x has a vastly superior military firepower compared to everything else.
dr_dshiv 2mo ago
It is still surprising that it was flagged. I’d have read it if it appeared — and the comments would be nice to read.
benrutter 2mo ago
> The article rests on the claim that water usage of data centers on continent X threaten water availability for humans on continent Y. I don't want to start too much of an off-topic thread within an already off-topic thread, but this isn't a particularly charitable reading. The article itself is mostly laying out information around data centres' resource usage with little prediction for how things would play out. I think statements like: > The water footprint is equivalent to the minimum annual domestic water needs of roughly 500,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa Are clearly just intended as illustrative, rather than a claim that 500,000 people in Sub-Sarah Africa will go without water as a result of AI data centres. I think the articles head isn't particular good, but it's a fairly moderate take and it's closing message isn't an "AI dooms natural resources" one at all: > AI within planetary limits is achievable. The report’s central argument is constructive. Capability and stewardship can grow together, but only with measurement, transparency, and shared responsibility across the ecosystem. At any rate, I definitely don't see any reason this article should be flagged? There's obviously criticisms you can make of it, but that's true of almost any opinion piece that finds itself on the front page here.
- AlexandrB 2mo ago
  > Are clearly just intended as illustrative, rather than a claim that 500,000 people in Sub-Sarah Africa will go without water as a result of AI data centres. Let's be honest, it's meant to be emotionally manipulative. There are plenty of ways to be illustrative that would make more sense to the target audience, but invoking impoverished folks in Africa is meant to tug at the heart strings.
  - KetoManx64 2mo ago
    This is also presumably not taking into account the fact that the water is reused/recycled within the data center after it's first brought in.

ses1984 2mo ago

What do you think people on continent x are going to do if there is water on continent y but not continent x…?

andsoitis 2mo ago
desalinate.
- no-name-here 2mo ago
  Doesn’t desalination require very large amounts of electricity, something that AI also requires large amounts of? Are we at the point where we are no longer concerned with electricity demand outstripping supply? (Let alone the pollution caused by in-place power plants - are we near to getting rid of those?)
  - tancop 2mo ago
    Solar is incredibly cheap and it's a perfect match for desalination because you can scale the water flow based on available power. And the places that need it the most are deserts with a lot of sunshine and empty land. We're at a point where generating power is almost never the issue. The actual problem is making the desalination tech itself cheap and easy to maintain so poor countries can afford it. Right now it's only a large scale thing in relatively rich and tech advanced states like Saudi or Israel.
  - HappMacDonald 2mo ago
    Honestly power isn't even the biggest problem with desalination, it's the spectacular volume of brine commensurate with the volume of clean water you are trying to extract: figuring out both how to dispose of it without creating new environmental hazards and constantly repairing/replacing the machinery which must filter and plumb that caustic sludge. Which is all to say in addition to the crazy energy demands of desalinization, there are also problems that dwarf those.
stonedivot 2mo ago
Since you think it's so obvious, please elaborate on what those people on continent x will do
- ses1984 2mo ago
  Make their problem everyone else’s problem.
- inigyou 2mo ago
  Go to the continent with more water so they can live in a place with more water (as they can't bring the water back - it's too big and too heavy). The people in continent Y are likely to use extreme violence to stop this from happening, like we see today in the Mediterranean sea where thousands of people are murdered every year.
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
- dandellion 2mo ago
  The same thing they always do?
mastermage 2mo ago
let me add especially if one country in continent x has a vastly superior military firepower compared to everything else.

dr_dshiv 2mo ago

It is still surprising that it was flagged. I’d have read it if it appeared — and the comments would be nice to read.

benrutter 2mo ago

> The article rests on the claim that water usage of data centers on continent X threaten water availability for humans on continent Y. I don't want to start too much of an off-topic thread within an already off-topic thread, but this isn't a particularly charitable reading. The article itself is mostly laying out information around data centres' resource usage with little prediction for how things would play out. I think statements like: > The water footprint is equivalent to the minimum annual domestic water needs of roughly 500,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa Are clearly just intended as illustrative, rather than a claim that 500,000 people in Sub-Sarah Africa will go without water as a result of AI data centres. I think the articles head isn't particular good, but it's a fairly moderate take and it's closing message isn't an "AI dooms natural resources" one at all: > AI within planetary limits is achievable. The report’s central argument is constructive. Capability and stewardship can grow together, but only with measurement, transparency, and shared responsibility across the ecosystem. At any rate, I definitely don't see any reason this article should be flagged? There's obviously criticisms you can make of it, but that's true of almost any opinion piece that finds itself on the front page here.

AlexandrB 2mo ago
> Are clearly just intended as illustrative, rather than a claim that 500,000 people in Sub-Sarah Africa will go without water as a result of AI data centres. Let's be honest, it's meant to be emotionally manipulative. There are plenty of ways to be illustrative that would make more sense to the target audience, but invoking impoverished folks in Africa is meant to tug at the heart strings.
- KetoManx64 2mo ago
  This is also presumably not taking into account the fact that the water is reused/recycled within the data center after it's first brought in.