The AI Water Issue Is Fake by Andy Masley
Shares rank 37 of 60 articles by recommenders
Recommended as a detailed, well-sourced debunking of AI water-use claims, with many links, graphs and calculations. Critics say it omits context and that an earlier version had errors.
Recommended as a detailed, well-sourced debunking of AI water-use claims, with many links, graphs and calculations. Critics say it omits context and that an earlier version had errors.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Heavily sourced, detailed, with receipts
“Links to reliable sources for every numbers claim, of which there's several per paragraph, shows graphs, pictures, and does a lot of math”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Please Don't Say Mean Things about the AI I Just Invested a Billion Dollars In” “goes into OCD-levels of detail with receipts to debunk that entire issue in all aspects”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Opus 4.5 is going to change everything” “goes into an ungodly amount of detail -- with receipts”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “AGI fantasy is a blocker to actual engineering” Thoroughly debunks the water claim
“goes into OCD-levels of detail with receipts to debunk that entire issue in all aspects”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Opus 4.5 is going to change everything” “Oh it's this thoroughly debunked talking point again.”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Hetzner (European hosting provider) to increase prices by up to 38%” Useful piece to point people to
“this post by Andy Masley is useful too”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Rob Pike got spammed with an AI slop "act of kindness"” “This is a useful piece on that”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Emily Bender Sets the Record Straight on "Stochastic Parrots"”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Omits context and nuance
“There is so much nuance and context missing that I can't see this as anything other than astroturfing.”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Building FireStriker: Why I'm Making Civic Tech Free” “the article obscures two real problems”
Comment from 28 Mar 2026 in “Building FireStriker: Why I'm Making Civic Tech Free”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The AI Water Issue Is Fake by Andy MasleyThis page | 5 | 3 | 63% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The first version had so many glaring errors that have been "corrected" (removed), and I don't have the energy to comb through this one.”
“This is a useful piece on that”
“the article obscures two real problems”
“There is so much nuance and context missing that I can't see this as anything other than astroturfing.”
“This may help you feel better”
“Oh it's this thoroughly debunked talking point again.”
“Links to reliable sources for every numbers claim, of which there's several per paragraph, shows graphs, pictures, and does a lot of math”
“goes into OCD-levels of detail with receipts to debunk that entire issue in all aspects”
“this post by Andy Masley is useful too”
“goes into an ungodly amount of detail -- with receipts”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.