The Thirsty ChatGPT!
Dear Friends and Students,
During a recent visit to a friend's home, I witnessed an interesting scenario. A 10-year-old boy was playfully engaging with ChatGPT, and his parents were thrilled to see him embrace this AI tool. While technology adoption is a positive development, I believe it's important to educate the entire family about a crucial aspect of these interactions.
In technical terms, our interactions with ChatGPT through the textbox are referred to as "prompts." In this instance, the boy asked a simple question, "How are you?" and received a response from ChatGPT: "I'm just a computer program, so I don't have feelings, but I'm here to help you with any questions or tasks you have. How can I assist you today?" This exchange was fun and entertaining, but it's essential to understand that for every 20-50 such conversations or prompts, ChatGPT consumes approximately half a liter of water.
What may surprise you is that ChatGPT's water consumption is related to the cooling of the data center machines that power the AI. In fact, Microsoft's global water usage increased by 34 percent from 2021 to 2022, reaching nearly 1.7 billion gallons (source: www.businesstoday.in).
It's not just ChatGPT; every AI-powered data center has a significant water footprint. Consider the numbers: Google Bard has about 1,00,000 daily active users, while ChatGPT boasts over 10 crore active users. Microsoft Bing Chat has an estimated 50,000 daily active users, Meta Llama 2 has around 25,000, Claude has roughly 10,000, and GitHub CoPilot has about 5,000 daily active users.
Starting with the estimated daily active users of ChatGPT and Bard, if each user generates an average of 10 prompts per day, the total number of prompts from these two engines alone would reach 130 million per day. Adding in prompts from other competitors like Microsoft Bing Chat, Meta Llama 2, Claude, and GitHub CoPilot, the daily total exceeds 135 million. To put this into perspective, 130 million prompts require a staggering 65,00,000 liters of water. Assuming an average person consumes 3 liters of water per day, this amount could sustain approximately 21,66,667 people daily.
I've been asked whether AI models like ChatGPT are sustainable. The answer is Yes/No, depending on the context. AI can be sustainable when used for vital tasks. For instance, when AI analyses medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs to help doctors detect diseases like cancer, fractures, and neurological disorders, it greatly enhances healthcare accuracy and efficiency.
However, we might consider delaying AI-powered meme generators, AI toys, and entertainment robots to reduce the water footprint. We can also postpone AI chatbots for casual conversations and AI virtual assistants for entertainment and convenience.
In conclusion, AI developers and users should be transparent about their products' water footprint. Users must be aware of the environmental impact of their choices. To address the water footprint of AI, developers, users, policymakers, and stakeholders must collaborate and take responsible actions.
Warm regards,
Ravi Saripalle
Note: Opinions expressed by authors are their own.
Pic credits: Pixabay
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
View Details
Like
1 Comments
Repost
You may also like
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 2d
The Life Choices of India’s Brightest Minds
Dear Friends,Let's assume your son or daughter studied CSE at IIT Bombay. Right after graduation, he/she declares that they would not go after the software or corporate route. They want to explore
EdGe: Your Academic Co-pilot
Published 7d+
Study Path, Courses, Salary & Complete ISRO–NASA Roadmap
The dream of going to space has fascinated generations. From watching rocket launches to imagining life beyond Earth, many students aspire to become astronauts. But this journey is not just exciting—it
EdGe: Your Academic Co-pilot
Published 7d+
Top 10 High-Paying Non-Engineering Careers After Class 12: Explore Rewarding Alternatives
“Think beyond engineering — your dream career could start here.”Choosing a career after Class 12 is one of the most important decisions in a student’s life. While engineering
EdGe: Your Academic Co-pilot
Published 7d+
7 On-Demand Careers You Can Build from Your Hobbies
Turn What You Love Into What You Do – Powered by EdGe🔍 Why Turn a Hobby into a Career?When your passion becomes your profession, work no longer feels like a burden. The rise of digital
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
How Birds Survive -A lesson to learn
A Sudden Gloomy Environment-Recession, Layoffs, and Fear of Technology Replacing Jobs-How Birds Survive and Teach us during Heavy Storms?Dear FriendsOn Sep 23, 2021, I wrote a story on my blog-
Sandip University
Published 7d+
Which MBA is best for placement?
There is no single "best" MBA program for placement, as different programs can offer strong placement outcomes for different industries and career paths. However, each stream of MBA studies can
EdGe: Your Academic Co-pilot
Published 7d+
All About VITEEE
Vellore Institute of Technology: A Premier Destination for Engineering ExcellenceVellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a premier deemed university in India, established in 1984 by Dr. G. Viswanathan.
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
The Impact of Your Internship
Maximizing the Impact of Your Internship Applications: The Crucial Role of Expression and Presentation in Cover Letters and Statements of PurposeDear Friends and StudentsToday I received the
Kartikeya Kommanamanchi
Published 7d+
No excuses, Let's vote!
I have been in a dilemma for around one and a half months since the election schedules were announced, whether to go and vote, which is a big thing(for me), considering my exam is approaching(regardless
Sri Chaitanya Ayyagari
Published 7d+
Chemical engineering: For a better tomorrow
Role of Chemical Engineer in Pharmaceutical Industry:As the world is slowly recovering from the Pandemic of COVID crisis. We all know how much damage COVID 19 virus has done to humanity. Scientists
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
The Connection Between a Mother’s Kiss and a Newborn: Emotion, Science, and Sanatana Dharma
The Connection Between a Mother’s Kiss and a Newborn: Emotion, Science, and Sanatana DharmaDear Friends,Recently, a social media influencer shared a heartwarming video that captivated
Related Blogs
TAMADA RAHUL
Published 7d+
CHATGPT, A melancholy with a thing of beauty.
As the world is growing in all fields including population, made things much easier due to different ideologies arising from different parts of the world. As to run everything smoothly, different technologies
ELCSLAB @ Lendi
Published 7d+
The Power of ChatGPT: Revolutionizing Conversational AI
In recent years, the field of artificial intelligence has witnessed tremendous advancements, particularly in the domain of natural language processing. One of the most remarkable innovations to emerge
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
Preparing Coders for Tomorrow
"Preparing Coders for Tomorrow: The Evolution of Code Comprehension in Generative AI”! Computer Science Faculty and IT Recruiters' Dilemma!Dear Friends and Students,This article
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
AI Impact on Jobs
Unleashing the Power of AI: Job Market Dynamics (AI shrinks large set of jobs to 4), Skill Reshaping, and New OpportunitiesDear Friends and StudentsRecently I had an opportunity to present my views
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
Prompt Engineering
The Hottest Software Job and Hottest Programming Language in the Market! The first-ever new Job created by AI!Dear Friends and StudentsRecently I saw a Job post and Companies are willing to pay
Dr. Ravi Saripalle
Published 7d+
The Impact of Your Internship
Maximizing the Impact of Your Internship Applications: The Crucial Role of Expression and Presentation in Cover Letters and Statements of PurposeDear Friends and StudentsToday I received the