AI Development Requires Large Amounts of Water

Researchers say the methods used to create artificial intelligence (AI) systems require large amounts of water. As a result, people are calling on AI developers to reduce their water usage and take more responsibility for the environmental resources they use.

研究人员表示，用于创建人工智能（AI）系统的方法需要大量的水。 因此，人们呼吁人工智能开发人员减少用水量，并对他们使用的环境资源承担更多责任。

The Associated Press recently reported on water usage by American-based OpenAI, the company that launched the ChatGPT AI tool. ChatGPT is a so-called “chatbot” designed to interact smoothly with humans and perform high-level writing. Such tools are also known as “generative AI” or “large language models.”

美联社最近报道了美国 OpenAI 公司的用水情况，该公司推出了 ChatGPT 人工智能工具。 ChatGPT 是一种所谓的“聊天机器人”，旨在与人类顺利交互并执行高级写作。 此类工具也被称为“生成人工智能”或“大型语言模型”。

The development and training methods used to create large language models require powerful computing systems. This process uses a lot of electricity and produces a lot of heat. Data center operators pump in water to keep equipment cool.

用于创建大型语言模型的开发和训练方法需要强大的计算系统。 这个过程使用大量电力并产生大量热量。 数据中心操作员泵入水以保持设备冷却。

Open AI – which is backed by software maker Microsoft – operates a series of data centers in West Des Moines, Iowa. The city in the central part of the state is home to about 68,000 people.

Open AI 由软件制造商微软支持，在爱荷华州西得梅因运营着一系列数据中心。 这座位于该州中部的城市拥有约 68,000 人。

“They’re building them as fast as they can,” said Steve Gaer, who served as the city's mayor when Microsoft first arrived. He said the software maker was attracted to the city because of its efforts to improve public projects. The former official also said Microsoft provided a huge amount of money in taxes in support of the efforts.

“他们正在尽快建造它们，”微软刚来时担任该市市长的史蒂夫·盖尔 (Steve Gaer) 说。 他说，这家软件制造商之所以被这座城市所吸引，是因为它在改善公共项目方面所做的努力。 这位前官员还表示，微软提供了大量税收资金来支持这些努力。

“But,” Gaer said of the company, “they were pretty secretive on what they’re doing out there.”

“但是，”盖尔谈到该公司时说，“他们对自己正在做的事情非常保密。”

In 2020, Microsoft said it was developing one of the world's most powerful supercomputers for OpenAI. At the time, it did not name the Iowa city as home to the project. Microsoft described the effort as a “single system” with a huge number of semiconductors and processors to support AI workloads.

2020 年，微软表示正在为 OpenAI 开发世界上最强大的超级计算机之一。 当时，它没有指定爱荷华市为该项目的所在地。 微软将这项工作描述为一个“单一系统”，拥有大量半导体和处理器来支持人工智能工作负载。

In late May, Microsoft President Brad Smith made his first public comment about the company’s new “AI supercomputing data center” in West Des Moines. He noted the center was built to support development efforts for the ChatGPT system.

5月下旬，微软总裁布拉德·史密斯首次公开评论该公司位于西得梅因的新“人工智能超级计算数据中心”。 他指出，该中心的建立是为了支持 ChatGPT 系统的开发工作。

Water is taken from the nearby Raccoon and Des Moines rivers to cool down the Microsoft-OpenAI computing equipment, the AP reports. In its latest environmental report, Microsoft said its worldwide water usage rose 34 percent from 2021 to 2022 to almost 1.7 billion gallons. Industry experts have suggested the large increase was directly linked to the company’s AI research.

据美联社报道，从附近的浣熊河和得梅因河取水来冷却微软 OpenAI 计算设备。 微软在最新的环境报告中表示，从 2021 年到 2022 年，其全球用水量增长了 34%，达到近 17 亿加仑。 行业专家表示，这一大幅增长与该公司的人工智能研究直接相关。

“It’s fair to say the majority of the growth is due to AI,” said Shaolei Ren. He is a researcher at the University of California, Riverside who has been studying the environmental effects of AI products such as ChatGPT.

“可以公平地说，大部分增长归功于人工智能，”任少雷说。 他是加州大学河滨分校的研究员，一直在研究 ChatGPT 等人工智能产品对环境的影响。

In a paper set to be published later this year, Ren’s team estimates ChatGPT takes up 500 milliliters of water each time someone asks the tool a series of between five and 50 questions. The estimate also includes indirect usage companies generally do not measure. This includes water used to cool power plants that supply the data centers with electricity.

在今年晚些时候发表的一篇论文中，Ren 的团队估计，每当有人向该工具提出 5 到 50 个问题时，ChatGPT 就会消耗 500 毫升的水。 该估计还包括公司通常不测量的间接使用量。 这包括用于冷却为数据中心供电的发电厂的水。

“Most people are not aware of the resource usage underlying ChatGPT,” Ren said. “If you’re not aware of the resource usage, then there’s no way that we can help conserve the resources.”

“大多数人不知道 ChatGPT 底层的资源使用情况，”Ren 说。 “如果您不了解资源的使用情况，那么我们就无法帮助节省资源。”

Ren noted that Google reported a 20 percent growth in water usage during the same period. He believes that growth is largely linked to the American-based search engine company’s AI development work.

任指出，谷歌报告同期用水量增长了 20%。 他认为，增长很大程度上与这家美国搜索引擎公司的人工智能开发工作有关。

Microsoft said in a recent statement to the AP that it is investing in research to measure the environmental effects of AI activities. The company promised to work on ways "to make large systems more efficient, in both training and application.”

微软在最近给美联社的一份声明中表示，它正在投资研究以衡量人工智能活动对环境的影响。 该公司承诺致力于“使大型系统在培训和应用方面更加高效”。

In its own statement, OpenAI said it had given “considerable thought" to the best use of computing power. “We recognize training large models can be energy and water-intensive," it said.

OpenAI 在自己的声明中表示，它已经对计算能力的最佳利用进行了“深思熟虑”。“我们认识到训练大型模型可能会消耗大量能源和水，”它说。

A West Des Moines government document from 2022 says the city “will only consider future data center projects" from Microsoft if those projects can “demonstrate and implement” technology to significantly reduce water usage from current levels.

西得梅因 2022 年的一份政府文件称，该市“只会考虑微软未来的数据中心项目”，前提是这些项目能够“演示和实施”技术，以显着减少目前水平的用水量。