Hi, I'm Sing Sing and I'm Simon Jack. And Good Bad Billionaire is back. It's the podcast

exploring the lives and livelihoods of some of the world's richest people, but this time there's

a twist. On Good Bad Dead billionaire, we are looking back on the lives of some titans of

US industry. Like the first ever billionaire, John D. Rockefeller. The founder of the Ford

Motor Company, Henry Ford.

And the First Lady of Wall Street, Hetty Green. And Simon and I are asking you if they were good, bad or just another billionaire.

Good bad billionaire. Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello and thanks for downloading the more or less

podcast with me, Paul Connolly. Each week we take a closer look at the numbers in the news and in everyday life.

Not to spoil anyone's fun, you understand, but instead to see if they're real.

Right, accurate.

Now, today we're going to try and break, open the robot's brain, and see what makes artificial intelligence tick along.

Specifically, language models like chat GPT, deep seek, quack, co-pilus and the likes.

Lots of you have written in wondering how much water AI systems use when you ask them simple questions.

And it's one watery claim in particular that has caught your attention.

This idea that the equivalent of a small bottle of water is guzzled by computer processors

every time you ask in AI that question, or get it to write a short, straightforward email.

So where does the claim come from and can we tell if it's true?

Before our study, when people look at the environmental impacts, they primarily look at the carbon emission,

which is of course very important. But I think there are other important aspects, such as the water

consumption. That's Dr. Shaulay-Ren, an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside.

It's his research that's the main source of the water claim.

In 2023, he co-authored a study titled Making AI Less Thirsty.

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