For millions, it’s become as commonplace as flicking a light switch. A simple prompt, an instruction and there it is – an answer, a plan, a memo, a newsletter. There’s little AI can’t do when asked.
But as life-changing as it’s become and as helpful as it can be, there’s plenty going on behind the scenes. And in a nutshell, it isn’t good for the environment.
It requires vast amounts of energy and water to make all the computing happen – and the way it’s sucking up resources is coming increasingly into question.
In the US state of Utah, plans are underway to construct a mammoth data centre nearly twice the size of Manhattan as part of the Trump administration’s push to be the world leader in AI. The Stratos artificial intelligence data centre will require about 9GW of power – more than double the amount the whole of Utah currently consumes annually and about 20% of SA’s national grid capacity.
It will also require a significant amount of water in an area hard hit by drought in recent years.
Stratos hasn’t said how much water it will need but conservationists estimate it could be as much as 7,5 billion litres a year and it will be powered by fossil fuels.
GROWING DISSENT
In Utah and other rural American states, residents of small towns are up in arms as data centres spring up, often without any warning.
Once up and running, electricity bills rise for consumers because of the demand from the centres and there are concerns about water usage in environmentally-threatened areas.
“I love what technology can give us but big tech has shown us they are not accountable,” Caroline Gleich, an environmental advocate and resident of Park City, Utah, told CNN.
“It’s very concerning and difficult to be a proponent of this when it comes to the amount of land, energy and the impact to our communities without guardrails, accountability and transparency.”
Owners of and investors in data centres say the developments will boost local economies by creating thousands of construction jobs and increase America’s computing and energy production capacity.
“The potential of what we’re creating is so important for defence, for the economy,” says investor Kevin O’Leary. “It should be, for everybody, a mission. We can’t let the Chinese beat us.”
The Utah project is expected to create 10 000 jobs in the construction phase and 2 000 permanent positions, and provide tax revenue to the state and county, he adds.
But Robert Davies, a physics professor at Utah State University, wonders if it will be worth the cost. “This thing will utterly transform the valley.”
Residents are concerned heat and emissions created by a 9GW data centre and power plant could exacerbate the impact of climate change.
There are also worries that the water needed to cool the centre could further drain the Great Salt Lake, leading to toxic dust that could harm people in the surrounding areas.
“Around the country, towns are seeing electricity bills rise. As utility bills balloon, there’s an increasing push among states to ensure companies – not consumers – pay for the power and transmission lines needed,” says David Lapp, Maryland’s top official for consumer advocacy.
“Existing customers are taking hits now and will take much greater hits going forward.”
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THE AI BUBBLE
Multi-billion-dollar investments in AI have fuelled an AI boom, with some wondering if it’s the making of a bubble that will eventually go bang.
In the early 2000s, the dot.com bubble burst when capital dried up and the value of tech stocks plummeted, leaving cash-strapped internet startups worthless.
Record valuations and deals driven by massive investment in AI – spending is expected to exceed $700 billion (R11,9 trillion) this year – have fuelled similar concerns.
AI tech remains extraordinarily expensive, largely because of the cost of advanced computer chips, and no AI firm has presented a convincing business model, The Atlantic says.
If AI doesn’t turn out to be as transformative as technology experts predict, many data centres could be left unused or unfinished.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos isn’t losing much sleep, though. “You shouldn’t worry about it because the bubble is driving investment and a lot of the investment is going to turn out to be very healthy.
“Every experiment is getting funded and the good ideas will pay for the losers. So from a point of view of civilisation, of society, these kinds of industrial cycles can actually be very healthy because they drive the technology forward.”
HOW MUCH IS NEEDED
Some data centres in the US have built their own power plants, causing pollution issues in nearby towns and cities, while others suck huge amounts of electricity from existing power grids.
In Singapore, for example, 19% of the country’s national grid energy is consumed by data centres.
Annual data centre electricity usage varies by size, ranging from 1,2 million kWh for a small server room to more than 87 million kWh for large hyperscale facilities.
A 2024 report by the US department of energy estimated that data centres would use between 6,7 and 12% of the nation’s electricity by 2028.
Globally these facilities consume about 415TWh per year, about 1,5% of total worldwide electricity demand.
Up to 7,5 million litres of water are required to keep data centres cool.
According to scientists at the University of California, a conversation with AI involving between 20 to 50 questions and answers is estimated to use about 500ml of water.
Billions of AI users worldwide enter prompts into systems such as ChatGPT every minute.
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POWER AND WATER GUZZLERS
Data centres have existed since the 1940s, housing the world’s earliest computers. They’ve become bigger and more powerful since as technology has progressed and they’re now enormous warehouses containing computer servers with powerful microchips.
These servers store, process and manage digital information that powers everything from email and online banking to streaming services, business operations and AI.
Electricity powers the servers and water is used to keep them cool and prevent equipment from overheating. To run AI and other services efficiently, servers need to process huge amounts of information at near-instantaneous speeds, requiring considerable computing power, which in turn requires substantial amounts of energy. In the US, data centres consume 4% to 5% of all electricity produced in the country.
Nearly 1% of the global economy – close to $1 trillion (R17 trillion) – is invested in data centres, according to the International Data Center Authority.
DATA CENTRES IN SA
There are 56 data centres in South Africa with a combined annual load capacity of around 350MW, according to the website Engineering News.
This is the same amount of electricity required to power 350 000 households continuously for a year.
Five of these data centres are AI-capable, which means SA has about 1% of global AI data centre capacity. The US is home to around 5 500 data centres and more than 40% of the world’s AI-capable data centres.
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SOURCES: THEGUARDIAN.COM, CNN.COM, WASHINGTONPOST.COM, NEWS.HARVARD.EDU, NYTIMES.COM, ENGINEERINGTIMES.CO.ZA, VOX.COM, THEATLANTIC.COM, BBC.COM, CNBC.COM
