Artificial intelligence technology behind ChatGPT was built in Iowa – with a lot of water::As they race to capitalize on a craze for generative AI, leading tech developers including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google have acknowledged that growing demand for their AI tools carries hefty costs, from expensive semiconductors to an increase in water consumption.
I get why evaporative cooling is an economic issue and a challenge for a local water company but is it an environmental issue? It seems like it would just go back into the water cycle like any other water that evaporates.
The issue is that the process doesn’t put the water immediately back to where it was pulled from. That water is lost until the water cycle brings it back to the area
Pull enough water water out of an environment before it can be replenished and the ecosystem will drastically change
I wonder if this could be done by taking and returning water from a continually cold lake, like Lake Superior.
So, they’re using evaporative cooling for this?
Could this be somehow combined with salt water, so the evaporated water would then be drinkable?
If it becomes illegal or taxed enough to hurt, they could start using heat pumps and burriwd exhangers
