What exactly are the data centers for? The generic answer seems to be - China is doing it, so we have to do it too.
And it seems that suddenly we need hundreds, maybe thousands, of these data centers ASAP.
Would data centers be helpful in setting up a control grid like China has? Keeping track of everyone's cell phone location, communications, financial transactions, vaccine records, etc, creates a lot of data. Would data centers help to process vast amounts of data and create social credit scores?
Given what the government did during the Covid operation, the response to the above questions should not be "They would never do that!" They already do it in China.
"It is 1942. The federal government has begun the Manhattan Project. "
Your analogy fails because of one omitted fact. "The United States is in a declared state of War with the A." That makes the legal, economic, and political situation entirely different. Maybe a declaration of war on Communist China is needed.
I agree, we need data centers. These centers should be required to provide the additional power grid and other infrastructure enhancements, not the private utility user. As long as they pay their way in the long run, I'm all for them. I prefer that proponents stick to the facts, rather than some of the pie in the sky that they currently use to sell these things. Perhaps if we redirected 25% of the money we waste on weapons systems, and pour it into AI, we would all benefit more?
So you have covered the power grid and the water consumption, now do the hum that the neighboring communities are dealing with, why they put them in communities instead of outlying land and why they are forcing people out of their homes through eminent domain to do so.
I’m not against technology itself, I’m against what they do to people to push it
No one should deal with the noise or lose a generational home because of growth.
This , in my opinion is where the anger issues come in and rightfully so.
I *broadly* agree with you, with two moderate caveats
1. The power grid needs, in many cases, to be upgraded and stabilized to support the needs of both the data centers and their surrounding communities, which is not trivial
2. Water supplies likewise need substantial work in many locations
The data center owners have, thus far, not been “wildly successful” in either case, and are proving to be less-than-ideal neighbors
That’s the physical infrastructure side of the coin
On the point of “existential angst”, for those whose livelihoods are or will be affected by AI, we need to pay close attention to the lessons learned from previous technology revolutions
Clear, timely, useful, accurate information has to be made available, and there needs to be some kind of plan to help people shift and adapt
The last revolution - PCs and the internet - took about 15 years to have its full impact felt across the board. This one will be much faster
“Everything will be just fine, trust me bro” isn’t the most trustworthy or reassuring message, even if it’s true
Correct with one addition - land use and siting. While worries about "big brother" or job losses are concerning to some, I think they are a bit exaggerated. But the power issues, water usage and siting are the real issues in communities that are fighting them. AI data centers are larger, require a lot mor power and while closed loop water cooling systems can mitigate water usage issues, they don't eliminate them. Also, their cooling systems make a lot of noise so when sited near a residential area, they do have an impact. That, and like is shown in the linked article, when power companies take over homesites via imminent domain, they don't endear themselves to the locals. https://blackmon.substack.com/p/a-message-for-datacenter-developers?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=712558&post_id=197488474&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=kv2ig&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
What exactly are the data centers for? The generic answer seems to be - China is doing it, so we have to do it too.
And it seems that suddenly we need hundreds, maybe thousands, of these data centers ASAP.
Would data centers be helpful in setting up a control grid like China has? Keeping track of everyone's cell phone location, communications, financial transactions, vaccine records, etc, creates a lot of data. Would data centers help to process vast amounts of data and create social credit scores?
Given what the government did during the Covid operation, the response to the above questions should not be "They would never do that!" They already do it in China.
https://kevinjmccabe.substack.com/p/the-digital-whirlpool-of-manufactured?
"It is 1942. The federal government has begun the Manhattan Project. "
Your analogy fails because of one omitted fact. "The United States is in a declared state of War with the A." That makes the legal, economic, and political situation entirely different. Maybe a declaration of war on Communist China is needed.
I agree, we need data centers. These centers should be required to provide the additional power grid and other infrastructure enhancements, not the private utility user. As long as they pay their way in the long run, I'm all for them. I prefer that proponents stick to the facts, rather than some of the pie in the sky that they currently use to sell these things. Perhaps if we redirected 25% of the money we waste on weapons systems, and pour it into AI, we would all benefit more?
So you have covered the power grid and the water consumption, now do the hum that the neighboring communities are dealing with, why they put them in communities instead of outlying land and why they are forcing people out of their homes through eminent domain to do so.
I’m not against technology itself, I’m against what they do to people to push it
No one should deal with the noise or lose a generational home because of growth.
This , in my opinion is where the anger issues come in and rightfully so.
I *broadly* agree with you, with two moderate caveats
1. The power grid needs, in many cases, to be upgraded and stabilized to support the needs of both the data centers and their surrounding communities, which is not trivial
2. Water supplies likewise need substantial work in many locations
The data center owners have, thus far, not been “wildly successful” in either case, and are proving to be less-than-ideal neighbors
That’s the physical infrastructure side of the coin
On the point of “existential angst”, for those whose livelihoods are or will be affected by AI, we need to pay close attention to the lessons learned from previous technology revolutions
Clear, timely, useful, accurate information has to be made available, and there needs to be some kind of plan to help people shift and adapt
The last revolution - PCs and the internet - took about 15 years to have its full impact felt across the board. This one will be much faster
“Everything will be just fine, trust me bro” isn’t the most trustworthy or reassuring message, even if it’s true
Correct with one addition - land use and siting. While worries about "big brother" or job losses are concerning to some, I think they are a bit exaggerated. But the power issues, water usage and siting are the real issues in communities that are fighting them. AI data centers are larger, require a lot mor power and while closed loop water cooling systems can mitigate water usage issues, they don't eliminate them. Also, their cooling systems make a lot of noise so when sited near a residential area, they do have an impact. That, and like is shown in the linked article, when power companies take over homesites via imminent domain, they don't endear themselves to the locals. https://blackmon.substack.com/p/a-message-for-datacenter-developers?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=712558&post_id=197488474&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=kv2ig&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
You make an excellent case for AI datacenters. I'm of the opinion that they are the future and we need to embrace them now.
Exactly. Data centers benefit everyone.
The great Moonshots podcast had part of the answer here:
Rural areas will benefit greatly from the taxes generated by data centers.
Imagine if they could offset property taxes for a period of years - or forever?