this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025
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Fuck AI

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AI, in this case, refers to LLMs, GPT technology, and anything listed as "AI" meant to increase market valuations.

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In a study published on Monday by the peer-reviewed journal Patterns, data scientist Alex de Vries-Gao estimated the carbon emissions from electricity used by AI at between 33 million and 80 million metric tons.

That higher figure would put it above last year's totals for Chile (78m tons), Czechia (78m tons), Romania (71m tons), and New York City (48m tons, including both CO2 and other greenhouse gases).

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[–] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 37 points 3 months ago

Welp that's unsustainable.

Hastening the future water wars

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 23 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] Xanthrax@lemmy.world 32 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Evaporated for cooling I'm guessing

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/the-hidden-bottleneck-of-ai-data-centers-water

There's closed loop and immersion (paraphrasing the article), so it's just a guess.

[–] flango@lemmy.eco.br 34 points 3 months ago

Not only that, datacenters pollute water with pfas (forever chemicals), making it unsafe to drink.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/04/pfas-pollution-data-centers-ai

[–] Ludicrous0251@piefed.zip 7 points 3 months ago

Confession: I haven't read the OP but a lot of data center studies include the water associated with power generation, which is usually a similar order of magnitude to the cooling water loss.

[–] muffedtrims@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Me too, but I pee the water. You know?

[–] MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 3 points 3 months ago

cool the data centers with piss, ingenious!

and then they can make gun powder with the leftovers so they can fight their war within.

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Have you considered not peeing, so that hustlebros can set up a Python script to feed popular art tags into an image generator, so they can have a passive income through Patreon?

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Its not like water is a human right.

[–] RustyShackleford@piefed.social 49 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I updated your meme to current day.

[–] leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Have we considered burning them down..?

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 3 months ago

That's good for the environment /s

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 10 points 3 months ago

Whyyyy? Tap’s far cheaper. I think these techies are just dumb.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 months ago (10 children)

Is this actually true?

A lot of people dont think there is a big impact of using llms vs having a gaming pc or heating your house...its just another waste of the modern world that humanity will figure out how to manage, like rebuilding the grid (which has to be done anyway)

Let me clarify, I hate llms and every corporation pushing this shit, but let's be sure we are getting mad about correct data.

[–] BCOVertigo@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They acknowledge that they're forced to estimate because companies are intentionally unclear with the data.

From the study

"The lack of distinction between AI and non-AI workloads in the environmental reports of data center operators means it is possible to assess the environmental impact of AI workloads only by approximating them through data centers’ general performance metrics. Company-wide metrics from the environmental disclosure of data center operators suggest that AI systems may have a carbon footprint equivalent to that of New York City in 2025, while their water footprint could be in the range of the global annual consumption of bottled water. Further disclosures from data center operators are urgently required to improve the accuracy of these estimates and to responsibly manage the growing environmental impact of AI systems."

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Its quite shady. These plants have thousands of meters and transmitters tracking everything, including water usage.

Why is that data not avilable to us?

Also, idgaf if its ai related or data center related. Its all bad in my book. Theyre boiling the oceans to serve me a personalized ad.

Ah, capitalism.

[–] real_squids@sopuli.xyz 18 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

If your gaming pc is using as much power as a house heater you have a massive problem lol

I gotta admit though, 300W from my PC (at peak load) is plenty to keep myself and my room comfortable. And unlike heaters you get to play videogames at the same time

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Haven't you seen, its now possible to play doom on your home thermostat!

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Ah yes. Blast the demons from hell as your thermostat raises your house's tempature to make it hot as hell in your home.

That's called immersion.

[–] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 1 points 3 months ago

Meanwhile, I can charge my tablet within about a hour on a portable solar charger, it shows no heat as far as I'm aware, and I rarely need other electronics.

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[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Anybody watching pluribus right now?

[–] dickalan@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Yummy yummy protein

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Just feel some similarities. AI taking all the resource. The hive starving themselves

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

Ya I keep thinking of this too lol.

[–] Darkness343@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Meanwhile, china is making fusion reactors.

The west has fallen

[–] lemmyausmister@feddit.org 1 points 3 months ago

No, they are doing research...

[–] FreddiesLantern@leminal.space 5 points 3 months ago

Oh well, humanity has had a good run. Beep boop.

Man, I was just arguing this fact with a couple of absolute doorknobs who were using a blog post as evidence that it is all overblown. XD

[–] brownsugga@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

At what point do people just start sabotaging these things? Datacenters and AI may represent things that only exist virtually but they must exist in our physical world as well

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