India, June 5 -- A new study has shown that Artificial Intelligence is not only responsible for worrying amounts of earth-warming greenhouse gases: the technology environmental footprint is also expanding at a pace that could strain the planet's natural resources.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. On top of the carbon footprint, every unit of electricity used by data centres also carries a "water footprint" for cooling and energy production, and a "land footprint" associated with power generation and supply chains.

According to a new study from UN University (UNU), AI-related water consumption could equal the basic annual domestic needs of 1.3 billion people by the end of the decade, while its land footprint may exceed 14,50...