Thirsty Data
Cloud systems where digital data is kept and processed consume a lot of water. It is estimated that data centers will consume 1.7 billion liters of water in 2030. With artificial intelligence, water consumption has increased even more. Computers working in huge data centers known as clouds are cooled with water systems because they get too hot. To give an example from daily life to explain the how big of the problem, you consume half a liter of water with a 20-question conversation you have with ChatGPT. On the other hand, drought has become an important problem due to global warming and reducing water consumption is now very critical for all of us. Alternative methods need to be developed as soon as possible to solve this problem, which is not yet on the agenda.
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