The surge in AI data centres is having a life-changing environmental impact on our world, particularly on water resources.
Last year, more than 560 billion litres of water the equivalent of more than 200,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools was diverted just to keep the centres from overheating.
That estimate is actually on the low end of the spectrum, according to a Reuters article, with some reports saying it could be double that amount.
It is a staggering amount of water, so it's time to have some difficult conversations about what we should be doing to remedy the situation, says Schulich School of Engineering researcher Dr. Laleh Behjat, PhD, who expanded on her warning at a recent TEDx Calgary event.
The problem with how we build technology
According to planetaryhealthcheck.org, humanity has passed seven of nine planetary boundaries, and she says it's time to change how we build computers and manage computing resources.
"We see the heat, the draught, the data, but are blind to consequences right in front of us," says the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering professor. "This scale of water use should make us pause and reconsider the pace of our tech progress."
She says it's not about any specific project or shutting down any further development, but about raising awareness and starting conversations about the consequences of rapid technological growth.
The technological evolution
Behjat lights up when talking about her area of expertise: computer engineering.
She says it's extraordinary to think about how small grains of sand are refined into pure silicon, turned into transistors and digital circuits.
"Each circuit, or chip, might be no bigger than your fingertip, but inside, it's like Dr. Seuss' Whoville with a bustling world packed with billions of tiny Whos called transistors," Behjat says. "Each transistor is a microscopic switch that turns on and off billions of times per second, not with a finger, but with an electromagnetic field."
She says Intel's first chip had about 2,200 transistors, while today's cellphones have more than 15 billion and all are four times smaller than the smallest known virus.
While engineers have been able to build all of the Whovilles at a nanoscale, they haven't been able to do the same in making sure they stay cool.
Changing the conversation
Behjat says the uncomfortable truth now is that our insatiable technological desires have created very real consequences.
With advancements in AI and machine learning, more centres are popping up to meet our growing needs, meaning more water is needed to cool those facilities.
"A single data centre can drink millions of litres a day enough to supply a small town," Behjat says. "All together, all of our Whovilles are so thirsty that they now drink the equivalent of four Lake Louises every day."
It's not sustainable, she says, as the Planet Health Check 2025 Report says that, "if the Earth were a hospital patient, it would be lying in the intensive care unit."
Behjat, who is also the NSERC Prairie Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, hopes to change the narrative around the need for speed and growth, and says it's time to talk about circularity and renewal because we're pushing the globe to its brink.
"We must imagine technologies that don't just drain the pool to keep our machines cool," Behjat says. "We need to refill it, restoring balance between what we build and what we borrow from nature. We must design systems that circulate like water returning to the pool so that what nourishes technology also nourishes life."
