OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in a weblog publish revealed Tuesday, says a median ChatGPT question makes use of about 0.000085 gallons of water, or “roughly one fifteenth of a teaspoon.” He made the declare as a part of a broader publish on his predictions about how AI will change the world.
“People are sometimes inquisitive about how a lot power a ChatGPT question makes use of; the common question makes use of about 0.34 watt-hours, about what an oven would use in somewhat over one second, or a high-efficiency lightbulb would use in a few minutes,” he says. He additionally argues that “the price of intelligence ought to ultimately converge to close the price of electrical energy.” OpenAI didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon how Altman got here to these figures.
AI firms have come below scrutiny for power prices of their expertise. This 12 months, for instance, researchers forecast that AI may devour extra energy than Bitcoin mining by the tip of the 12 months. In an article final 12 months, The Washington Post labored with researchers to find out {that a} 100-word electronic mail “generated by an AI chatbot utilizing GPT-4” required “somewhat greater than 1 bottle.” The publication additionally discovered that water utilization can rely upon the place a datacenter is positioned.