By 2030 AI will consume the water needed for 1.3 billion inhabitants of the Earth.

Energy consumption is estimated at 945 terawatts of electricity, which in other words, is the energy needed for 650 million people living in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria together.

The data was made public by a UN report on the environmental costs of AI and its water footprint, air and land.

This includes the entire chain necessary for the operation of artificial intelligence, including the construction of the data center, its normal use up to the electronic waste.

The study has analyzed real cases, one of which is the case of Ireland, where many data centers have been built, i.e. literal factories for AI, and where in 2023 they have consumed 21% of electricity, exceeding what the population consumes urban.

Also the case of Uruguay, where projects for a data center with high water consumption coincided with the extreme drought in 2023, where fresh water reserves in Montevideo were exhausted, making even tap water non-potable, as the water is used for the cooling process of AI processors.

The UN also emphasizes that the report is not an indictment of AI, but the technological transformation calls for an appeal to the use its with responsibility and genuine plans for the regulation and avoidance of unwanted impacts, to make the entire industry suitable for the environment.

Source: prizrenpost