• jpreston2005@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    7 hours ago

    Worse yet, for residents, it’s already likely too late to do anything against the data center expansion.

    “The only chance to stop something like this is to do it at the very, very, very beginning of the process — before the permit is issued — through the public participation process,” former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) staffer James Doty told Wired.

    Oh I can think of a couple ways they can do something about it

  • ape_arms@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    76
    ·
    10 hours ago

    I keep seeing it framed as the data centers using too much water. They need the water for the excessive HEAT they produce, with all the ELECTRICITY generated by (in mist cases) FOSSIL FUELS.

    • cecilkorik@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      60
      ·
      10 hours ago

      Yeah that’s a red herring on purpose to distract you from the fact that these data centers are literally running on hundreds of 24/7/365 jet engines being used as generators. It’s so obscene I kind of wonder if a lot of this AI hype and the wars aren’t being driven by the oil industry to prop up their dying business model.

      • LePoisson@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        59 minutes ago

        Are they actually running the jet engine generators 24x7x365? Fuck the data center expansion for AI sake but also we should be honest.

      • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        8 hours ago

        The Prime Minister of Canada said that the construction of data centers should be encouraged because it will “provide markets for our natural gas”.

        It’s not even a conspiracy theory, it’s openly stated.

        • So many people need to be put against a wall and made to explain, in front of live audiences or cameras, why dying industries NEED to be supported.

          Nobody ever said “the fidget spinner market needs a bailout! They’re a dying industry!”

          Of course, fidget spinners weren’t paying for bribes.

  • Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Data centers for the unspecified purpose of “we need them”. These idiots are throwing tremendous force behind building these things almost overnight and everywhere. AI alone does not need all these . When this bubble pops it’s going to put us all in the poorhouse but… I bet there will be some cheap ram and hard drives when it goes.

    • Malyca@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 hour ago

      They’re for the surveillance state. Flock cameras, age verification, other surveillance apparatus, all of it goes through astronomical data. These centers are for that.

      • coolman@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        Does that mean you’re ceding your claim to the cheap server grade HDDs? Sounds good to me, I’ve got an apocalypse grade media server to fill

      • Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        7 hours ago

        I think you’re going to see (like with the new mobos that have gone back to ddr4 in production) a lot of niche market adapters and odd bastard mobos and some new ones made to capitalize on the market.

    • But… But… MY model isn’t run at a data center, it’s all run from my own computer! Oh how did it get trained and refined to the point where I could run it on my computer? Uhhhhhh… Look over there! A distraction!

      The only ethical LLM is MY LLM.

      /s, just in case someone needs it.

    • Broadfern@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 hours ago

      There are some out there, yes.

      You’d be surprised at the proportion of the (at least US) population that is disgusted by it and avoids it wherever possible.

      • AshMan85@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        10 hours ago

        im on a sub community of people that hate Ai, and you think ill be surprised to find out there are others that also hate it?

        • Broadfern@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 hours ago

          Lemmy can usually be considered “niche,” and some folks mentally separate the user base from “normies” or the wider general populace. ¯\(ツ)

  • weps@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    9 hours ago

    I’ve been working in data centers since 2008.

    What happened? What changed? They used to be incredible.

    I haven’t been in a data center in a couple of years.

    • Platypus@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Companies are exploiting regulatory loopholes as they construct new facilities powered by pollutant-spewing onsite gas plants.

      The grid can’t handle the buildout, so new data centers are operating unregulated gray-market power plants.

    • Bakkoda@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      7 hours ago

      Do it and pay the fines later. If that nets a profit than the system needs to be changed.

  • I_Jedi@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    10 hours ago

    All we need is some AsH3, BeO, and CdO pollution and the data center pollution problem will solve itself.

    • LePoisson@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      57 minutes ago

      I was unsure what this comment is saying … Then I read what those compounds are and I was like … Oh yeah because of all the death. Perfect.