How Utah’s AI Usage Could Be Devastating For Already Scarce Water

Artificial intelligence or AI is all over the place and making its way into almost every industry, but drought-stricken Utahns should be concerned about another thing; its water usage.  

It may seem like a leap to connect AI and water usage, but the two are linked.  

AI cannot function without water which means it relies on the vast resources of water across the world to answer your Chat GPT questions. Forbes said that making AI products has exponentially increased water usage by tech giants.  

To make AI happen, cooling towers are needed and that tends to come from local resources.  

The Word Magazine said Utah’s neighbors like California and Arizona are already seeing a depletion of water resources linked to data centers.  

With Utah already in a drought and no sign of a solid monsoon season (again), using AI could have dire consequences.  

Tech giants like Google, Meta and Microsoft have a huge impact on water usage, Forbes said. However, the companies have promised to somehow reduce their water footprint by 2030, though they haven’t said how.  

AI’s water usage is predicted to be 6.6 billion by 2027 which is a significant impact for it having only gained traction a few years ago. 

Utah has several data centers, mostly located in the Northern part of the state, that could impact the already dwindling water resources. Should AI continue to gain in popularity and usage, Utah could see results like California and Arizona.  

With no solution from the tech giants and many people using AI for fun and business purposes, there seems to be no end in sight for water issues.