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AI model is meant to manage water competition between agriculture and semiconductor manufacturing
A ration of rain has been falling around Southwest Virginia of late, but the lakes and reservoirs remain slow to reach full pond. Even the governor has come around to talk about the drought.
Meanwhile, semiconductor manufacturing plays a growing role in competition with agriculture for water. With an eye toward providing policymakers with a way to manage that competition, a group of Virginia Tech researchers has built an artificial intelligence model to identify cause‑and‑effect relationships among water availability, crop needs, semiconductor expansion and regional basins, according to a university news release.
Feras Batarseh, associate professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, is the project’s lead researcher. Batarseh said in the news release that the recent explosion of AI queries via language learning models and the increased need for chip production is increasing pressure on already-strained water systems in much of the country.
He and a team including doctoral student Lauren Pincus and research associate Dan Sobien built an AI model to study the issue across all 50 states.
They conducted what their abstract called a “comprehensive AI-driven analysis of the geographical distribution of semiconductor manufacturing facilities in relation to water risk indicators, including baseline water stress, drought risk, and groundwater table decline.”
Their project is one of the first national‑scale studies to examine where agriculture and semiconductor manufacturing compete most directly for water resources, according to the news release.
While agriculture uses about 70% of freshwater withdrawals in the U.S., semiconductor manufacturing stands to add to stress on the supply, requiring “enormous volumes of ultra-purified water to clean and cool silicon wafers,” the news release reads. Both ag and tech draw from the same sources.
AI, which is part of the equation, can also generate solutions, the team says. It can generate tools to improve water efficiency in agriculture, thereby creating more room for semiconductor manufacturing. The team’s model, designed to support that improvement, “can simulate scenarios, test policy options, and identify strategies that reduce water stress without sacrificing economic growth,” according to the news release.
Batarseh said that the goal is “finding smarter ways to support both,” with an AI model that aids policy makers’ decisions.
The model integrates data from agriculture, hydrology, climate and industrial operations, generating recommendations for each state.
#AppalachiaBuiltThis scheduled bills itself as ‘hands-on community build night’ for AI
A free public event is scheduled on Thursday in Abingdon to teach hands-on artificial intelligence skills, according to a news release from the organizers.
The event, #AppalachiaBuiltThis, requires no experience, just a laptop, an idea (if you don’t have one, organizers say they have plenty) and a GPT subscription to get started. Registration is required for the three-hour event at EO, 300 Town Center Drive.
Entry-level paid plans to the AI service of your choice typically cost about $20 and can be canceled any time, the event’s website says, adding that “free tiers of commercially available AI services probably will not support a full evening of working on your idea.”
Otherwise, bring your laptop, whether Linux, Mac, Windows or Chromebook, and a charger.
Free pizza, and free help from event co-sponsor CGI Federal employees, are on the agenda. The idea is to build something small and useful, preferably with a team that can include family members.
CGI Federal, a Fairfax-based tech company, and EO, a nonprofit workforce development hub and childcare center, are teaming to present the event.
Get more information at https://appalachiabuiltthis.com/#.
