UN Report Warns Artificial Intelligence Could Consume Water for 1.3 Billion People by 2030

A UN University Institute of Water, Environment and Health report projects that by 2030 the water used by artificial‑intelligence systems will equal the basic annual household needs of 1.3 billion people, mainly in sub‑Saharan Africa. The same study estimates AI‑related electricity demand will reach 945 terawatt‑hours, about three times the combined annual consumption of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria, and would rank the sector as the world’s 11th largest electricity consumer if it were a country.

Data‑centre electricity use was 448 TWh in 2025, and the report highlights that each AI task varies widely in energy intensity – a typical conversation uses roughly 200 times more energy than basic text classification, image generation 1 450 times more, and short AI‑generated videos comparable to processing 200 000 spam messages. Researchers call for responsible AI deployment to mitigate these hidden resource footprints while noting that benefits and burdens are unevenly distributed worldwide.