Can artificial intelligence be thirsty? The answer might surprise you.

A study by the University of California, Riverside, found that Microsoft's ChatGPT alone consumes 500 ml of drinking water per conversation of 20 to 50 questions. This means that Microsoft's ChatGPT alone has an estimated water footprint of 1.7 billion gallons per year. To put that into perspective, that is the volume of water that is enough to supply approximately 51,481,576 people with water for domestic consumption for a year.

As the demand for AI technology increases, data centers that require drinking water will be used more frequently, significantly impacting global water supplies. By 2027, the global demand for AI could be responsible for 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal. That's equivalent to the total annual water withdrawal of 4 to 6 times Denmark or half of the United Kingdom.

It is just something that caught our attention and got us thinking …

Luckily, HydroKonekt can help you to save up to 25% on (domestic) drinking water consumption.