I may try to be brave and actually attend these. But I need real reasons (not just “the expansion of mass surveillance tools like this erode democracy and push us into fascism. Destroy all billionaires”)
The water usage thing is basically debunked. The people dont care what data they are actually storing. All I really would have is, land use, noise, and power consumption. Maybe about how theyre recording you at every turn with flock? Which any factory being built would do the same. I just feel like I can’t actually make an argument in front of normie’s who dont really realize what’s at stake here and have zero clue about technology in general.
Point out that data centers don’t bring real benefit to the community. Unlike a factory, they don’t create lasting jobs, only temporary construction positions. (And honestly? once the AI bubble pops I’m not convinced there will be any demand for large data centers.)
Is the water usage thing debunked? Data centers need cooling. There are a different ways to cool them, but water-cooled seems to be more common. (Likely it’s cheaper to build.) Regardless of whether AI uses absurd amounts of water compared to other tech, a data center will reduce the amount of water available to the community, and depending on your area that could turn people against a data center.
Power consumption is a big one. Data centers need a lot of power, and that will drive up consumer rates as A) they increase demand while supply lags and/or B) electric companies build new power plants to meet the demand, then raise rates to recoup costs. Bring up the actual impact on people: higher electric and gas bills.
good points I could definitely bring up.
Like I said, I already got the power bill notice that pissed me the fuck off “Joe and jane like to conserve their energy in the daytime!” FUCK all the way off. While datacenters suck up megawatts an hour.