Stephen Downes

I've made similar arguments in the past, but again, you don't have to listen to me, listen to other people in the field. In this case, the author debunks the viral "bottle of water per email" ChatGPT claim propagated in media such as the Washington Post. "LLMs replying to users simply do not use up that much water. Some water is sometimes used for cooling, but this is negligible. Most of the water attributed to LLMs is used up for generating power, because power generation requires water. Querying an LLM generally uses up less power, and therefore less water, than making toast or leaving one of your lights on for a few minutes."