Montana’s Water Supply Faces New Risks From AI Data Centers

You know that cool AI created caricatures that everyone is posting on Facebook? Yeah, it seems they are bad for the environment.

I will be the first to admit that I created a couple of them and was quite pleased with myself, however, I had no idea that it was hurting the water supply. Yep, it seems that AI uses a ton of water at their data centers. The water is used to cool down all the equipment in the data centers.

So, the more we use AI, the more data centers we build, the more water we lose. Plus, what happens to the water that is used in those centers? Is it contaminated? Is it re-useable?

READ MORE: Old Farmer's Almanac Winter Update for Montana

This is a major problem, especially in the western states were drought is a real threat. Take Montana for example. Much of our water supply is depended on the run off from the winter snow. So, imagine a year where there isn't a lot of snow, what does that mean for livestock and residents of the state if a large portion of water is being fed to AI data centers?

A couple years back Forbes warned us about the massive use of water and AI. Did you know that only 3 percent of our water supply is fresh water? Or that two-thirds of the 3 percent is locked into glaciers?

Are AI data centers coming to Montana?

There are several proposed AI data centers that are planning to be built here in Montana. One is north of Billings and another in Butte just for starters. Many locals are concerned with what this will do to their local water supply, but as we know, sometimes we put progress before common sense.

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What are your thoughts? Are AI data centers good for Montana, or are they a threat to not only jobs, but our resources? Let us know your thoughts be sending us a message on our app.