"Diverting just 10 percent of Nebraskan irrigation water would be enough for every single American to use GPT-4 about 24 times per day." ok this fact does absolutely nothing to convince me that AI water demand is not a problem
"Almost half of all the irrigation water in the Colorado River Basin goes to cattle feed alone. A modest diversion from this industry would free up more than enough water for Southwest cities and data centers alike for the rest of the century at least." prospect.org/environment/...
Data centers are nothing compared to cattle farming.
average AI hawker: "in 10 years every productive and successful american will be using GPT-8 100 times a day!! 🤪"
What bizarre framing.
Isn't the vast majority of the use we're talking about for once through cooling with surface water? If the water is pulled from a lake/reservoir, heated up, and then ultimately returned to the source I'm not understanding the level of concern.
Reminds me of the Great Salt Lake, where a desert city uses about twice the amount of water, per person per day, than the wet UK. (Even with a very stark example of the danger just up the road). www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/c...
Climate change and rapid population growth are shrinking the lake, creating a bowl of toxic dust that could poison the air around Salt Lake City.