It's no secret that training artificial intelligence algorithms requires insane amounts of energy — but, as a new paper reveals, it also uses up an absurd amount of water, too.

Researchers from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington have shared a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper titled "Making AI Less Thirsty" that looks into the environmental impact of AI training, which not only needs copious of electricity but also tons of water to cool the data centers.

When looking into how much water is needed to cool the data processing centers employed by companies like OpenAI and Google, the researchers found that just in training GPT-3 alone, Microsoft, which is partnered with OpenAI, consumed a whopping 185,000 gallons of water — which is, per their calculations, equivalent to the amount of water needed to cool a nuclear reactor.When looking into how much water is needed to cool the data processing centers employed by companies like OpenAI and Google, the researchers found that just in training GPT-3 alone, Microsoft, which is partnered with OpenAI, consumed a whopping 185,000 gallons of water — which is, per their calculations, equivalent to the amount of water needed to cool a nuclear reactor.