AI expansion drives water usage debates and consumer research risks

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is bringing new challenges to the forefront, specifically regarding resource consumption and information reliability.

In the tech sector, the water usage required to cool AI-driven data centers has become a significant environmental concern. A recent campaign by Liquid Death featuring Jason Kelce used absurd humor to highlight the debate over water consumption. While the campaign suggested using urine for cooling, experts note that raw urine cannot be used due to salts and bacteria; however, treated wastewater is a viable industrial solution for cooling systems.

Separately, the use of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews for complex consumer decisions, such as purchasing a vehicle, is being cautioned against. Because these models are designed to generate plausible-sounding responses, they are prone to hallucinations or providing overly generalized information that may overlook critical technical flaws, making them unreliable for high-stakes research.