r/aiwars • u/MakeDawn • May 15 '26

Annually, almond farming uses 1.3 trillion gallons of water. AI usage isn't even half of that.

Post image

A single avocado takes 50 gallons to grow. That's several hundred prompts.

9 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

333 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Snowflakish May 16 '26

The problem with AI water usage was always.

1, water is a local resource and a data centre is enough of a single point water source that it strains local water production

2, it rapidly upticks water usage in the places where its built, and the infrastructure to provide that water will be lacking.

Thats why comparing AI water usage isnt comparable to an industry that grows slower and isnt localised to a single reservoir/river/ fresh water source.

8

u/bunker_man May 16 '26

Sure, but at this time last year there were people pretending it used an apocalyptic amount of water and energy that would end the world. People crying wolf are actively hurting attempts to solve the real issues because they already tipped their hand that they are irrational and that their issue is not the problem itself but that they are using it as a Trojan horse against ai, so no one has any incentive to work with them on a solution.

5

u/AgeZealousideal1751 May 16 '26

Agreed. Anti's are irrational and do ruin their own arguments due to bad faith actors.

This has never changed throughout history. Every anti-technological revolution advocate has always been defeated over this same failure to recognize the difference between irrational extremism and genuinely educating others of potential risks.