||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT |||
“AI chugs a bottle of water every time you chat with it.”
Originally reported by Science Alert
“Many people assume AI is inherently harmful, especially given headlines calling out its vast energy and water footprint. Those effects are real, but they’re only part of the story.”
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A PBS News Hour segment yesterday evening observed that electricity rates nationally were increasing at 6% per year, or more than twice the inflation rate, in part due to the growing demands of data centers. That’s what we’ve been experiencing here in the county, and I believe it’s the case more widely in WA state. When AI really kicks in over the next few years, we can expect that hit to grow to something like 10% annually—UNLESS the state mandates that these “hyperscale” AI data centers supply their own power.