Energy-intensive data centers have grown rapidly due to increased processing needs, larger data quantities and cooling infrastructures. However, the main forces behind this movement are AI-powered services and apps.
Deadly air pollution levels from power plants and generators are rising as a result of artificial intelligence’s growing power requirements. Increased water use and carbon emissions might have an effect on the ecosystem.
According to studies from Caltech and the University of California Riverside, the United States will see about 1,300 premature deaths annually by 2030. An estimated $20 billion is spent annually on public health due to cancer, asthma, other illnesses and missed work and school days.
These financial and human consequences however, seem to be overlooked by the IT companies. Although water and carbon emissions are included in these tech industry papers, there is very little discussion of harmful air pollution.
Due to competition in providing better AI services, air pollution from power plants powering AIs is causing tiny particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers to enter the lungs. It is anticipated that other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides would rise sharply.
The researchers calculated the emissions of Meta’s Large Language Model Llama 3.1 to provide a clearer illustration. Ten thousand automobile journeys from Los Angeles to New York City is the amount of pollution that the LLM training process produces.
The study also discovered that because of their closeness to power plants certain low income neighborhoods are impacted by this air pollution. After that, this pollution spreads throughout the nation.
For example, Northern Virginia data center generator pollution flows into Maryland, New York or New Jersey resulting in annual public health expenses of $190 million to $260 million. Unbelievably, these generators have the potential to increase tenfold reaching between $1.9 billion and $2.6 billion. The public cost of power is more than what IT businesses pay even in certain places.
The study’s authors advise tech firms to implement guidelines and procedures for disclosing the air pollution their power plants produce. Additionally, they advocate for appropriate compensation for the health burden experienced by the victim populations.
