Research conducted by the University of California, Riverside shared by The Washington Post on Wednesday highlighted the high costs of using generative AI. It turns out AI requires pretty heavy water consumption — used to cool the servers that generate the data — even when it's just generating text. This is, of course, in addition to the severe electric grid toll.
The research noted that the exact water usage varies depending on state and proximity to data center, with lower water use corresponding to cheaper electricity and higher electricity use. Texas had the lowest water usage at an estimated 235 milliliters needed to generate one 100-word email, while Washington demanded a whopping 1,408 milliliters per email — which is about three 16.9oz water bottles.
