Data centre surge strains resources: Can AI learn to consume with care?

Big Tech is pumping more than $60 billion into data centres in India to power a smart future. This will also put pressure on scarce power and water resources. Fortunately, there are solutions

The moment you type in a query and press enter on an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to get an image, infographic, text or video, the query goes to a football field-sized data centre where racks of power-hungry AI chips have a quick “think” before replying. This process, called “inference” — where a machine applies its knowledge (or learning, if you will) to answer the query — guzzles up power and water to generate an output. 

Most technology companies are reluctant to share exactly how much electricity and water these facilities consume, even as millions make AI their daily assistant. 

Sam