AI is Going to be Used, Despite Energy or Water Impact

Despite some protestations, it does not appear that artificial intelligence capabilities--no matter what the impact on water or energy consumption; threats to privacy; intellectual property issues; teaching methods or other social and economic effects--are going to remain unused, anymore than the internet was destined to remain unused, or electricity, or the internal combustion engine or any other general-purpose technology. 

GPTs simply are too transformative, affecting most to all economic or social activities. And though we could well be wrong, artificial intelligence seems poised to provide more leverage than prior GPTs. 

source: Ark Investment, CMC Markets 

source: Ark Investment, CMC Markets 

So energy and water impact, for example, have to be kept in context. Yes, AI is likely to increase consumption of both of those resources. But gains might vastly outstrip those inputs, with some measure of lessened resource impact for activities that can incorporate AI. To the extent AI automates and proactively reduces inputs, that should result in footprint reductions elsewhere in the economy. 

The point is that if an observer does not particularly care about economic impact; use of domestic sources; national interest considerations; the cost of energy or impact on lower-income and middle-income consumers, an argument for limiting AI uses might make sense. 

If AI leads to higher water and energy inputs, and if all one cares about is reducing water and carbon footprint, the actual choice of energy sources might not matter much. What matters is simply reducing consumption. 

As a practical matter, all those concerns do matter, even if some energy sources perform better than others in terms of carbon or water impact, and even if some sources have greater or lesser externalities of other sorts (impact on wildlife, land use, conservation of other natural resources). 

Few policymakers would accept a lower water and energy footprint--no matter what--if the tradeoff is lower living standards for working and lower-income citizens; lower economic growth and higher overall costs of living. 

Energy Source	Energy Efficiency	Carbon Footprint	Water Footprint
Nuclear Energy	High	Low (no direct greenhouse gas emissions)	High (for cooling)
Hydropower	High	Low (no direct greenhouse gas emissions)	Moderate (can impact ecosystems)
Solar Power	Moderate-High	Low (no direct greenhouse gas emissions)	Low
Wind Power	High	Low (no direct greenhouse gas emissions)	Low
Biofuel	Moderate	Can vary (depends on type and production method)	Moderate
Coal	Low	High	High (for mining and cooling)
Natural Gas	Moderate-High	Moderate	Moderate

Water and energy footprint is a problem we need to work on, with a view to total benefits and costs, even if some inputs grow because we use AI.