Just want to say a few words on this important and hot topic. The first thing everyone should be aware of is that the US is incredibly vulnerable to abuse of its free and democratic society and communication channels by its adversaries. China in particular, but Russia, Iran, North Korea and others, do everything they can to damage our society and country. This includes funding extremist groups of all stripes and promoting discord in every possible media outlet, including social media. This has occurred for decades and the US simply hasn’t fought back or even fully investigated or exposed it. Treasury Secretary Bessent says he is doing so now and if so, he needs to quickly make sure everyone understands how deep and pernicious the influence campaign is. And it has been successful in damaging us.
So anything you read or hear about AI and data centers often is affected by these perverse sources. Artificial intelligence is another currently overhyped, but ultimately useful technology. It is following the same path as widespread use of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A lot of money is being poured into artificial intelligence models and that requires immense computing power which requires a lot of electricity and some water. These are large businesses that create jobs–construction jobs, operational jobs, all kinds of support jobs. They pay a lot of property taxes. There were fears that the internet would cause all kinds of job losses, but instead widespread use created more jobs, generally high-paying ones. The internet benefited everyone by increasing productivity. It has drive huge economic gains for the US.
People are worried about electricity use and cost but most of these data centers are bringing their own power sources. Water use has been moderate and is getting more efficient. The reality is that if the US wants to reshore manufacturing and wants its businesses to continue to be innovative and drive a growing economy, we need AI and its data centers. But, again, aided by China, we have a group of luddites who are opposed to AI and to data centers. Morons like millionaire Bernie Sanders and semi-morons like Steve Bannon are leading the charge to put the US in a deep competitive hole. They use every lie possible, as usual. China applauds their efforts, as it wants to get ahead of the US in AI, and it wants the US dependent on it.
Fortunately, construction unions, businesses and cooler heads are fighting back. Whatever the potential dangers of AI, and there are some, we cannot afford to fall behind. We need the productivity gains, we need the well-paying jobs. It will ultimately help us all. So please spread the word and tell people don’t fall for the China-inspired opposition to AI and data centers.
You’re absolutely correct.
I don’t think the widespread opposition to data centers can be blamed on Chinese bots or domestic luddites. It is largely self inflicted by Big Tech. Over the years, they have earned the distrust of the American people (tracking, manipulating, censoring, pushing wokeness, bad effect on kids, etc.). They negotiate secret deals with public officials and hide the deals behind non-disclosure agreements.
The Big Tech Barons cheerfully predict that AI will make most people irrelevant and then say we should let them build the facilities that will enable that. At least one talks about creating “superintelligence”, as if AI was not scary enough. That is all wildly exaggerated, but people believe the exaggerations and are rightly scared by them.
They will use the data centers to enhance their wealth and power. They tell us to trust them. But they have proven that they are not to be trusted and are not worthy of power. And then they wonder where the opposition comes from.
It is a shame since you are correct that we need what AI can offer and can not afford to fall behind. My consolation is that in the short run (say 5-10 years) the actual need for those data centers will fall far short of what they seek to build. So slowing it down will likely not do much damage.
well I know it is asking a lot of the general public, but they should be able to distinguish between the things certain large tech companies, like Meta, do on social media, and the economic and environmental impact of data centers. The AI companies are not predicting the demise of most jobs, on the contrary, most of them recognize that just like the internet, it will likely create more high-paying jobs. You may recall all the fear-mongering about the internet putting everyone out of work. Bill Gates says weird stuff but then he is out of it at this point and we know what kind of scumbag he is. Last time I checked and this may not be true for long if the whacked Dems get their way, we live in an economy where people who invent and invest and build things that grow the economy, improve productivity and value, and provide good jobs, are permitted to collect the rewards for doing that. Exhibit A is Elon Musk who has created thousands of employee millionaires in his companies.