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Every prompt typed into ChatGPT might seem like digital keys doing magic, but behind the interface lies a quietly growing environmental cost.
While OpenAI, Google, X, and other platforms’ chatbots’ artificial intelligence offers instant answers and dazzling visuals, it operates on an infrastructure that demands enormous physical resources, chief among them being water.
Now, thanks to internet obsessions like Studio Ghibli-style portraits and Barbie-themed avatars, that demand has reached a new, unsustainable peak. The water used is real, clean, drinkable water diverted to cool overheated servers churning out your personalised anime portraits and memeable pink fantasy boxes. The cost is high, and it's rising.
Understanding ChatGPT's Water Consumption
Each interaction with ChatGPT, especially those involving image generation, requires substantial computational power. This power translates to heat, necessitating cooling systems that often rely on water.
Estimates suggest that generating a 100-word response with ChatGPT's GPT-4 model consumes approximately 519 millilitres (half a litre) of water.
When scaled to the platform's vast user base, the numbers become staggering. With an estimated 57.14 million daily users, ChatGPT's daily water consumption reaches approximately 14,828 crore litres.
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The Impact of Viral Image Trends
The introduction of ChatGPT's image-generation capabilities has led to a surge in user engagement, particularly with trends like ‘Ghiblification’ and AI-generated Barbie avatars.
These trends have not only captivated users but also significantly increased the computational load on AI systems. Generating a single AI image can consume as much energy as fully charging a smartphone, indirectly leading to higher water usage for cooling purposes.
The popularity of these trends has even prompted OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, to urge users to moderate their usage, citing server overloads due to ‘melting GPUs’.
Environmental Implications
The environmental impact of AI extends beyond water consumption. Data centres, especially those located in water-scarce regions, pose significant risks to local ecosystems and communities.
A joint investigation revealed that tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are operating data centres in some of the world's driest areas, potentially threatening local water supplies.
Moreover, the energy sources powering these data centres often rely on fossil fuels, contributing to carbon emissions and climate change. The cumulative effect of increased AI usage, driven by viral trends, exacerbates these environmental challenges.
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Finally, the next time you type a prompt into ChatGPT, think twice about its implications and whether you actually need that Ghibli image of yours or would rather save a few litres of water.
