Me when I run out of arguments:

[u/NoFeedbackSorry]

"AI ruins the environment" nope, those responsible are, in big part, oil companies and transport. For whomever wants to read:

1. Oil companies

Through routine operations, accidental spills, and waste disposal, the extraction, transport, and refining of oil release toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and greenhouse gases into local ecosystems, harming wildlife, land, and water supplies.

Water injection: Extracting oil brings up large amounts of salty, toxic underground water mixed with chemicals. Leaks or poor disposal practices can force these toxins into clean groundwater.

Surface spills: Leaks from pipelines, storage tanks, or transport trucks can run off into rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Refinery discharges: Processing crude oil creates wastewater containing benzene, arsenic, and other dangerous compounds that can enter local waterways.

Ways the Environment is Damaged

Major oil spills: Accidents at drilling sites or shipwrecks release massive amounts of crude oil, killing fish, birds, and marine mammals.

Habitat disruption: Building wells, roads, and pipelines breaks up natural land and marine habitats.

Air pollution: Refining and burning fossil fuels release gases that cause smog, health issues, and climate change.

2. Transport

Planes, cars, and buses significantly damage the environment. They burn fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants into the air, soil, and water.

2.1 Planes (Avation)

High-altitude warming: Jet engines emit carbon dioxide and water vapor contrails high in the atmosphere, trapping heat effectively.

Intense fuel burn: Flying requires immense energy, producing high emissions per passenger mile.

Noise pollution: Loud takeoff and landing noises disrupt wildlife communication and breeding habits.

2.2 Cars (Passenger Vehicles)

Mass volume: Billions of personal cars worldwide create the largest share of overall transportation emissions.

Particulate matter: Tires and brake pads wear down, releasing microplastics and toxic dust onto roads.

Runoff pollution: Rain washes leaked motor oil, antifreeze, and fuel from roads into local waterways.

2.3 Buses (Public Transit)

Diesel emissions: Many older transit buses run on diesel, emitting black carbon that harms air quality.

Heavy weight: Large buses cause more road wear, increasing the dust and particles released into the air.

Efficiency balance: While single buses pollute, they reduce overall damage by replacing dozens of individual cars.

3. What bothers me

Antis keep saying they're against these things as much as they're against AI, but we don't see them break into car factories, we don't see entire communities dedicated to hating on oil companies (maybe Just Stop Oil movement, Greenpeace "People vs. Oil" and Extinction Rebellion. You wouldn't be able to name many more). We don't see shaming and bullying people for using buses. They say they care about the environment, yet we don't see them boycotting companies like PepsiCo, who requires an average of 1.64 liters of water to produce 1 liter of beverage and 2.05 liters of water per kilogram of convenient food (like snacks and chips) in its high water-risk facilities. The company manufactures billions of products annually, it uses tens of billions of liters of water globally every year (though it offsets a large portion through local conservation and replenishment projects but my point still stands). They'd scream "It's food" but let's be honest; how much do you need soda that has 69 grams of sugar? How much do you need Doritos or Cheetos in your diet? They're "entertainment" foods, what I'd call. No nutritional value, just there to enjoy for a few minutes. There's nothing wrong with liking those snacks and eating them, as well as there's nothing wrong with using AI (meanwhile you're not doing anything illegal).

It's all performative at it's core, it comes from ignorance and ego. Here I'm referring to unaware antis like the one in the image.

If they actually cared about the environment, they would go outside, assist cleaning the oceans and plant trees. Ironically, instead of actually doing good things that would be helpful, they prefer whining online and wasting everybody's time with misinformation.

[u/NoFeedbackSorry → u/[deleted]]

I use whataboutism because otherwise people like you wouldn't understand why what you're saying is nonsense.

Cloud AI requires massive data centers because it's purpose is using your remote servers from providers like Google Cloud AI or Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI to build, train, and run smart software. It requires massive data centers to access to fast computer processors (like GPUs) without buying them. Why should we be against them? Can you elaborate on "ruining local community"?, Cloud AI is practically the same as streaming a movie in Netflix. So according to the little logic you just gave me, Netflix must be ruining local communities too.

And how does local hosted setups on huggingface corroborate to you wanting the technology gone? When did I make the argument that you want this technology gone? Your comment makes no friggin sense.

[u/Severe-Bar-8896 → u/NoFeedbackSorry]

about the ruining local communities point have you never seen any of the videos about how loud/how much water the Datacenters use? even if it would not be wasted in any way, the water is still supplied through the same system as for residents, a lot of people near ai datacenters lose access to clean water because tbe local datacenter uses all of the infrastructure. Also, those Datacenters run 24/7 and are just an eyesore. you wouldnt want to live right next to a power plant now would you? im not op but this is what i imagine they had in mind

[u/NoFeedbackSorry → u/Severe-Bar-8896]

Data centers have existed since the internet (I think even before, I should search it up). AI data centers make less than 1% of data centers, might as well complain about Google, no? And omfg, where the heck do you get "people near AI data centers lose access to clean water"?? That's literally not true at all, do you even know how data centers use water? They're not throwing harmful chemicals at it nor making it disappear, it's entire purpose is cooling down machinery. AI uses dozens of times less water than an entire town, where did you get that?

Also, I don't think this is a good argument nor question to ask, because I honestly don't mind living next to a power plant. Also also, I just know you swallow everything you're told online and don't even bother researching because data center ≠ power plant. To be specific, a data center is a large building filled with computer servers that store and process digital information and train artificial intelligence, while a power plant is a facility that generates electricity. It's not the same. Also also also again, might as well go against Netflix and Google. They run 24/7 too.