Specialists are skeptical about Google’s AI water consumption claims

Yesterday, we coated Google’s report {that a} typical question to its Gemini AI consumes solely “5 drops of water.” That determine is now going through criticism from a number of AI specialists, in accordance with The Verge… and that features one of many authors of one of many experiences referred to by Google.

AI researcher Shaolei Ren—a professor at College of California Riverside and one of many authors of the report Making AI Much less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Fashions—beforehand estimated that Microsoft’s knowledge heart consumed 700,000 liters of water to coach OpenAI’s GPT-3 mannequin. He additionally calculated {that a} ChatGPT dialog of 20 to 50 messages can eat near a pint of water, which is way over Google’s estimate.

Ren and different AI researchers argue that Google is incorrect to go away out the oblique water consumption of its AI fashions. Google’s figures solely point out the water used to chill its knowledge facilities whereas ignoring the water consumption of the facility vegetation that provide the info facilities with electrical energy. “Google’s 5 drops per question is simply the tip of the iceberg,” says sustainability researcher Alex de Vries-Gao.

Specialists are additionally essential of Google’s figures on the carbon emissions of AI fashions. Google is claimed to have used market-based emissions figures, and may subsequently exclude electrical energy certificates and carbon credit. The determine subsequently doesn’t present how a lot CO2 the AI fashions really emit.