Ashutosh Pandey
India is becoming a player in the digital world really fast. We are putting a lot of money into Artificial Intelligence and cloud computing. This is making our country stronger in terms of technology. But there is a problem that is not getting enough attention. We are using up a lot of water and energy. This article is going to look at these two things that are happening at the same time.
Digital development has made our lives easier and more connected. The internet and smartphones have changed a lot of things like education and healthcare. In India the Digital India plan and cheap internet have made this happen faster. This is why big tech companies are investing a lot of money in India to build data centers and work on Artificial Intelligence.
Behind all this progress there is a harsh reality. Data centers use a lot of water and energy. They need millions of liters of water every day to keep cool. For example training an Artificial Intelligence model like GPT-3 used around 700,000 liters of water. Googles data centers are going to use four times electricity by 2030.
Using a lot of water is also a problem. Data centers need a lot of water to keep their servers cool. In a country like India, where we already do not have water this is a really big challenge. A report by NITI Aayog says that the water under the ground is going down fast in many cities in India. This problem is going to get worse in the coming years.
There is an example from the United States that’s worth looking at. A big data center used much water that the areas around it did not have enough water. This is happening in India too. If we do not do something about it it could lead to problems for the environment and society.
The way we use energy is also a concern. Data centers need a lot of electricity which makes a lot of carbon. In India we still make most of our electricity from coal, which makes it even worse. Artificial Intelligence uses a lot energy than regular computers, which makes the problem even bigger.
So we need to think about development in a different way. It is not about technology but also about taking care of the environment and society. We can use water, renewable energy and make technology that uses less energy. These things can make a difference.
The government needs to make some changes. They need to make rules to protect the environment when data centers are built. They also need to make sure that local communities are involved so that their interests are protected. If we only think about electricity, labor and land it could be bad for us in the long run.
Digital development is only good if it is fair and sustainable. If it uses up much water and energy it could lead to social problems and hurt the environment. So we need to find a balance between growth and taking care of our natural resources.
In the end India is at a point where it has to decide what it wants to do. Does it want to be a player, in technology or does it want to be responsible and sustainable? The future of growth depends on how we use our resources today. Digital growth and resource crisis are two issues that we need to think about. Digital growth is important. We also need to think about the resource crisis. We need to find a way to make digital growth work without hurting our resources.
(The writer is a student of Indian Institute of Mass Communication Jammu)
