Civilians Would Rather Have Nuclear Power Plants Than AI Data Centres In Their Neighbourhood: Survey

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the last few years has led to companies setting up massive data centres around the world. While they are designed to help AI models function optimally, a negative perception around data centres has been quietly brewing, driven by concerns over their massive water and electricity consumption. According to a Gallup survey released Wednesday (May 13), 71 per cent of Americans are somewhat or strongly opposed to the building of AI data centres in their area, primarily due to their environmental impact.

These findings are particularly significant given that only 53% of respondents opposed the construction of a nuclear power plant in their local area.

"Since Gallup first asked the nuclear power plant question in 2001, the high point in opposition has been 63 per cent." the survey highlighted, adding that 46 per cent of people were worried a great deal about the environmental impact of AI data centres.

AI data centres rely on cooling systems that can consume millions of litres of water, especially in warmer regions. This has raised questions about sustainability, particularly in areas already facing water stress.

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AI Data Centres And Their Impact

Last month, a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study highlighted that apart from consuming huge amounts of water and electricity, these data centres are also creating 'heat islands', warming the land around them by two degrees Celsius on average, making life hotter for more than 34 crore (340 million) people.

"We estimate that the land surface temperature increases by 2 degrees Celsius on average after the start of operations of an AI data centre, inducing local microclimate zones, which we call the data heat island effect," the study highlighted, adding that in extreme cases, the jump can be as high as 9 degrees Celsius.

The temperature increase by these AI data centres affected areas up to 9.9 km (6.2 miles) away, the research found, affecting more than 340 million people.

According to scientists at the University of California, each 100-word AI prompt is estimated to use roughly one bottle of water (or 519 millilitres). Previously, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) stated that medium-sized data centres can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual water usage of approximately 1,000 households.