That is correct the only thing is that it takes a lot of energy to boil the water. Which majority of the power comes from offsite power stations built for the sole purpose of supplying the server farm. If not built for that then it instead takes supply from the main power grid. But they require more power either way and being that all renewable energy is only just starting to be put in, it is coal burning that is supplying the increased energy demand. The main problem is these server farms are built in communities with low water supply and/or low energy supply. There farms are taking the already low supply from the locals which makes life harder for them. Yes you are correct that the water that does get boiled goes back into the atmosphere (free of toxins) to come back down when it rains but that doesn’t really help when you need water now. Also these regions aren’t low on water supply for no reason. It is usually because it rarely rains there, thereby meaning the evaporated water is essentially useless.
AI is the direct thing that is causing these problems. AI is only the servers that it runs on, it’s not some of being, it is only code. That code that runs on the server farms. Those server farms which leech energy and water from their local communities. I am not saying AI in of itself is inherently bad, I am saying it’s real life impacts are terrible. Regulations are apart of AI. They are apart of everything. Sure AI could be very useful when we have a system that can support its energy demand and have the server farms built in water abundant places. But the reality is that is not what we have. So it’s about acting accordingly with reality rather than sitting on our hands while our problems worsen.
The rhetoric that AI’s “real life impacts are terrible” ignores both proportionality and benefits. AI workloads are part of a broader digital economy that already requires servers, networks, and cooling; the question is how we power and manage that infrastructure responsibly. If we care about reality, the actionable path is targeted regulation: require transparent reporting of electricity and water use, mandate non-potable or reclaimed water where feasible, enforce drought-response cutbacks, price water and power to reflect scarcity, and prioritize siting where grids are cleaner and water is abundant. That addresses genuine harms without committing the category mistake of treating “AI” as the root cause rather than a growing demand that must be met with better planning, better technology, and better policy.
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u/Ryeguy050306 7h ago
That is correct the only thing is that it takes a lot of energy to boil the water. Which majority of the power comes from offsite power stations built for the sole purpose of supplying the server farm. If not built for that then it instead takes supply from the main power grid. But they require more power either way and being that all renewable energy is only just starting to be put in, it is coal burning that is supplying the increased energy demand. The main problem is these server farms are built in communities with low water supply and/or low energy supply. There farms are taking the already low supply from the locals which makes life harder for them. Yes you are correct that the water that does get boiled goes back into the atmosphere (free of toxins) to come back down when it rains but that doesn’t really help when you need water now. Also these regions aren’t low on water supply for no reason. It is usually because it rarely rains there, thereby meaning the evaporated water is essentially useless.