AI data centers use a lot of electricity & water: Can supply keep up?
The rising demand for AI technology and data centers is creating a supply issue due to the massive amounts of electricity and water required to operate and cool these facilities.
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Posted 8/28/2023, 4:01:25 PM
yahoo.com
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The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is seen as a positive development in terms of addressing environmental challenges, but there are concerns about AI's own carbon footprint due to energy-intensive processes such as data training and computer hardware production.
The transformation of data servers to be AI-ready is consuming significant energy and natural resources, raising the question of whether AI can revolutionize technology's carbon footprint responsibly.
Tech developers including Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google are facing increased water consumption and environmental impact due to the energy-intensive nature of training large AI models.
Microsoft's global water consumption spiked by more than a third, equivalent to nearly 1.7 billion gallons, due to the demand for AI and the need to cool supercomputers used in developing language models like ChatGPT.
A computer that uses heat instead of electricity could be more energy-efficient and run algorithms for neural networks and artificial intelligence.
Schneider Electric suggests that the infrastructure of datacenters needs to be reevaluated in order to meet the demands of AI workloads, which require low-latency, high-bandwidth networking and put pressure on power delivery and thermal management systems. They recommend changes to power distribution, cooling, rack configuration, and software management to optimize datacenters for AI adoption. The use of liquid cooling and heavier-duty racks may be necessary, and proper software platforms should be employed to identify and prevent issues.