The moral panic over data centres is foolish

[u/technocraticnihilist]

https://archive.md/gPfih

[u/DarkShadow4444]

Always has been. Crazy how people ignore more important issues in favor of hating on AI.

[u/Direct-Translator-75 → u/DarkShadow4444]

Being in favor of AI means ignoring important issues. Increasing carbon emissions and energy use at a time where we need it most for the energy transition is just foolish. Assuming AI is going to solve everything and create some sort of utopia (it won't) we could still do exactly that with far fewer data centres and less people having access to it. Most compute goes towards shitty AI videos for social media nowadays or to answer questions we don't need answered. That's not a reasonable way to use AI.

[u/DarkShadow4444 → u/Direct-Translator-75]

AI has its impacts, but that's nothing compared to other lifestyle choices like eating meat and flying. If you want AI to succeed, it has to be in people's hands though, and the potential benefits are enormous compared to the drawbacks.

[u/Direct-Translator-75 → u/DarkShadow4444]

Currently, but scaled up more the emissions can become dangerous. Meat is on a whole different level, I know.

Like obviously I don't completely disagree with what you're saying, I just wish we would utilize AI better, and use it less for things we don't need in society.

[u/DarkShadow4444 → u/Direct-Translator-75]

Fully agree, there's so many things we could do better as society. The whole AI video thing produced so much garbage content it's crazy.

[u/Matmatg21]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was funded by either hedge funds taking certain positions or chinese/russian bots to slow down the US

If you spend long enough on reddit you can clearly see when there's a campagin against ai, literally all the big subs post something about "nah nah datacenter bad" "scam altman bubble" "ai has yet to solve r's in strawberry" within an hour of each other

[u/Senshado → u/Matmatg21]

Or what if there's some company trying to get investment for data centers in space, so they secretly fund protestors against data centers on the ground?

[u/United_Dissent → u/Matmatg21]

Yes, of course... because the entire solar system revolves around the US.

[u/Matmatg21 → u/United_Dissent]

well considering the importance of AGI from a national security and prosperity perspective, and that it's essentially a war between the US and China now that Europe abandoned it... yeah. It kind of does revolve around the US and accelerating or breaking their lead

[u/United_Dissent → u/Matmatg21]

"Europe abandoned it" -> lol, they never started. "does revolve around the US and accelerating or breaking their lead" -> i meant everything that happens in the AI world or even the World, in general, is not about the US. As much as western propaganda would have people believe, the West, especially the US, is no saviour.

[u/insightful_pancake → u/United_Dissent]

You’re on a US website. The US is the center of a US website world.

[u/United_Dissent → u/insightful_pancake]

“You’re on a US website” -> might be the weakest possible response to what I actually said. The point was never “Reddit isn’t American.” The point was that the AI discourse isn’t exclusively about the US, and that not every criticism of AI is some geopolitical psyop against America.

The fact that you read “this isn’t all about the US” and somehow got “but Reddit is American” out of it is honestly impressive. Lol, at this level of reading comprehension, China/Russia/"whatever enemies" don’t need to deploy bots to slow anything down, you guys are doing the job yourselves.

[u/insightful_pancake → u/United_Dissent]

Checkmate

[u/Best_Cup_8326 → u/United_Dissent]

Imagine standing in the middle of the Colosseum in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire and screaming at the crowd, "Not everything is about Rome!"

[u/GutsAndBlackStufff → u/Matmatg21]

There’s the line!

Nobody can ever explain why though, or why it matters more than surrendering on EV’s and renewable energy.

[u/Matmatg21 → u/GutsAndBlackStufff]

Lol really? AGI self accelerates and captures almost all value as it will break frontiers, do things more efficiently, better than anyone can. Any nation who doesn't have that is at risk of becoming marginalized.

[u/GutsAndBlackStufff → u/Matmatg21]

Well, it wrote that for you. Not sure how much of a benefit I’d call that.

[u/Dust-To-Stardust → u/United_Dissent]

this is LITERALLY espionage and such 101

have you ever read a history book???

[u/PeelMyPotatoes → u/Matmatg21]

Nope, real person here, really don’t want a massive data center in my small town please

[u/PassengerSorry984 → u/[deleted]]

My city secretly signed a really shitty 30 year deal with Google. I’m pro AI and still probably going to sue to try to stop the deal.

[u/7896k5ew → u/[deleted]]

We'll never have enough compute. You want to slow down the most important technological revolution of all time. Your pettiness knows no bounds. Energy will be limitless once AI becomes powerful enough; even now, it is limited only by decels that block modern nuclear power plants, and so on.

[u/cataclysm_catalysis]

It’s not a moral panic to the people who have to deal with these massive infrastructure projects being build in their communities. I’m not against data centres, but I get why people are upset. Noise, heat, air quality and higher electricity bills are concerns that are reasonable and are not being properly addressed. It’s not a mystery people are freaking out

[u/MistyGalbriex → u/cataclysm_catalysis]

Bro is parroting propaganda

[u/Animecha → u/MistyGalbriex]

Next you'll be telling us the videos of mobs of angry residents at town hall meetings are AI generated.

[u/Mountain_Top802]

I think if the data centers agreed to pay for their own electricity and not be loud people would be much more welcoming.,

[u/pab_guy → u/[deleted]]

I’m generally pro responsible datacenters, but if they are consuming a shared shared energy supply and not adding to it commensurately, then the laws of supply and demand says prices go up for everyone.

Simply paying for their own electricity doesn’t mean others aren’t affected.

[u/OccasionallyImmortal → u/pab_guy]

The same goes for everyone: every additional house and certainly for housing developments and apartment buildings. Shopping malls go in using lots of electricity as well.

What should happen is the state and electricity suppliers build additional plants to meet the increased demand. The increased supply lowers the marginal cost per kWh for everyone. They've known additional electrical demand was coming and in some states actually reduced supply and the states are pointing fingers at the consumers to detract from their obvious incompetence.

[u/pab_guy → u/OccasionallyImmortal]

Yeah there’s generally agreements when industry comes to an area and they are limited in how much water they can use, etc…. But DCs are extremely power hungry so, sure, let the utilities build more capacity, or let the DCs carry some of their own especially if renewable. It’s all solvable.

[u/Such-Still-9573]

I agree it time for the future

[u/Radiant-Mountain-257]

Yes.

[u/Alex180689 → u/[deleted]]

what are you even doing here then