Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
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FWIW I don’t think we should ban golf courses or pools broadly. But it’s probably a good idea to heavily restrict them in places where the impact is particularly large. A golf course in the Midwest grasslands is not the same as a golf course in the middle of the Sonora desert
@calcifer@masto.hackers.town I have a brilliant new business idea, quick, invest, get in on the ground floor!
Data Golf Swimming Centre -
Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
600 billion gallons
is that a lot or a little ?
the state of CA alone uses about 2.4 trillion gallons of water
in 2015, the US used about 300 billion gallons
PER DAY
PER DAYso water use by AI is NOT A PROBLEM
RIGHT ????
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
@calcifer this is a very valid point
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FWIW I don’t think we should ban golf courses or pools broadly. But it’s probably a good idea to heavily restrict them in places where the impact is particularly large. A golf course in the Midwest grasslands is not the same as a golf course in the middle of the Sonora desert
@calcifer See, I disagree. I think we should at least ban the creation of new golf courses. afaict, the number of places where they don't use dangerous amounts of water just to maintain the greens is rapidly shrinking. Pools at least can have their water ostensibly drained and filtered.
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FWIW I don’t think we should ban golf courses or pools broadly. But it’s probably a good idea to heavily restrict them in places where the impact is particularly large. A golf course in the Midwest grasslands is not the same as a golf course in the middle of the Sonora desert
@calcifer the problem with water in IA (or datacenters at large) is that it rejects heat in natural rivers or sea... I agree to say golfs in american desert of stadiums in Sahara are complete nonsense, but it's another problem and other consequences.
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
@calcifer I learned how to golf in an area of the U.S. that does not receive much rainfall. The “greens” were made of sand and the fairways were not watered.
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
@calcifer i think losing sight of the big picture is the only practical thing left to do right now. people are utterly exhausted and they just don't care anymore. if we just focus on pausing further waste, and ignore fixing already broken things we might actually succeed in this small goal (though chances are close to 0 in my opinion).
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
@calcifer Saint George of Carlin on the subject of Golf Courses:
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
My understanding of the water usage wasn't that it was too much for the planet to handle, but that it was too much for the local municipalities to handle.
Water usage and requirements where the data centers are being built and the impact on those communities is the issue. Not total number of gallons consumed.
This abstraction goes too far.
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Just a quick reminder that if you’re (rightfully!) upset about AI water usage, you should also be aware that the projected ~600B gallons for AI use is about 1/3 to 1/2 of what’s used to grow golf grass in arid climates in the US alone.
And roughly 7/8 of the water the US will lose to residential private pool evaporation.
It’s important not to lose sight of long-standing problems in the fight against new ones.
@calcifer making me think of my neighbors cutting their grass so short that they had to water it to keep it alive despite us living somewhere that gets enough rain that you really don't have to irrigate *any* outside plants
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