my short video psa “draining away” was originally created as a project for a course in environmental ethics, and aims to educate the audience on the ethical ramifications of generative ai; more specifically, its immense water usage.

in the video, a university student lacking inspiration for her paper attempts to use ai to help her write it. however, the short facts and statistics the ai gives her only emphasize how much humanity depends on clean water, how crucial its preservation is in the face of a growing water crisis, and just how much water is wasted by the use of generative ai.

the video’s conclusion encourages viewers to think for themselves and avoid using ai for trivial things to help save water and preserve our planet’s valuable natural resources.

works cited for data listed in video:

• https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
• https://www.glslcompactcouncil.org/about/about-the-great-lakes-st-lawrence-basin/ https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gallon-of-water-a-day
• https://water.org/about-us/news-press/how-many-people-are-affected-by-the- global-water-crisis-2024/
• https://genaq.com/percentage-of-water-on-earth/
• https://ecology.wa.gov/ecologys-work-near-you/river-basins-groundwater/what-is-a-watershed-and-why-does-it-matter
• https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/great-lakes-facts-and-figures
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/18/energy-ai-use-electricity-water-data-centers/