A new study shows that generative AI systems, such as the popular ChatGPT bot, consume about half a liter (500 milliliters) of water for every 20 to 50 questions users ask.
This amount may not seem like a lot, but with the global use of ChatGPT robots and other generative artificial intelligence systems, the water consumption is enormous, said researcher Shaoli Ren from the University of California, in a research paper he prepared.
Ren said in statements to the Associated Press that the growth in water consumption in Microsoft's environmental report for the past year 2022 is mainly due to its development of artificial intelligence systems.
Microsoft is the majority shareholder in OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT bot and other AI tools.
Microsoft acknowledged this problem and said it is looking for ways to measure energy consumption and carbon footprint, and is also working to make artificial intelligence systems less energy consuming, according to an Associated Press report.
In a related context, OpenAI acknowledged the large consumption of water in its projects, and promised to work to fix the problem.
It is worth noting that the ChatGPT robot depends on Microsoft servers, which in turn need fresh water for cooling and maintaining a suitable temperature to work efficiently.
Ren added that water consumption in AI system servers is likely to decrease over time, stressing the importance of awareness of the problem in order to take corrective steps.
This comes at a time when the ChatGPT bot is witnessing a decline in the number of users for the third month in a row, according to recent reports.
Previous reports had indicated that Google's data centers in the United States alone consumed about 12.7 billion liters of fresh water in 2021 to keep the servers cool, at a time when many regions around the world are suffering from drought and water scarcity.