AI data centers are disruptive from the context. They’ve been built haphazardly and quickly. Evaporative coolers, gas turbines, big lots in urban areas; all this is done because they literally cannot wait 6 more months to construct things properly.
It’s billionaire FOMO.
So they end up spewing gas into neighborhoods or running water dry not because of sheer volume, but because they just plopped the data centers down with zero mindfulness, nor any time for infrastructure to adapt.
…But.
On the whole, their water use is minuscule.
So is their energy use compared to, say, metal foundry industries.
Or emissions compared to concrete or ranching industries. Or shipping.
Not that it makes those industries unproblematic.
And I’m counting the hardware construction here, too. Fabs are intense, the datacenter supply chain is long, but the scale really isn’t that big. Just as an example, literally every Nvidia and AMD AI GPU comes from just one complex in Taiwan. The memory comes from three. And the other components on the PCB are pretty modest too.
How do you think that compares to, say, every steel foundry on the planet? And all the coal they ingest?
And the notion that “AI” will somehow require a fraction of all human economic output is propaganda from Sam Altman to trick people into giving him money.
It’s a lie.
It’s a lie for many nested reasons. We cannot possibly use that much “AI,” and even if we did, we shouldn’t, and even if we somehow do anyway, it’s getting exponentially less intensive to run. Not more expensive. It’s all just nonsense out of his mouth, and for some reason he doesn’t get called out for it.
I’m not trying to excuse the buildout, to be clear.
But I think the resources need to be put into perspective.
Yes.
AI data centers are disruptive from the context. They’ve been built haphazardly and quickly. Evaporative coolers, gas turbines, big lots in urban areas; all this is done because they literally cannot wait 6 more months to construct things properly.
It’s billionaire FOMO.
So they end up spewing gas into neighborhoods or running water dry not because of sheer volume, but because they just plopped the data centers down with zero mindfulness, nor any time for infrastructure to adapt.
…But.
On the whole, their water use is minuscule.
So is their energy use compared to, say, metal foundry industries.
Or emissions compared to concrete or ranching industries. Or shipping.
Not that it makes those industries unproblematic.
And I’m counting the hardware construction here, too. Fabs are intense, the datacenter supply chain is long, but the scale really isn’t that big. Just as an example, literally every Nvidia and AMD AI GPU comes from just one complex in Taiwan. The memory comes from three. And the other components on the PCB are pretty modest too.
How do you think that compares to, say, every steel foundry on the planet? And all the coal they ingest?
And the notion that “AI” will somehow require a fraction of all human economic output is propaganda from Sam Altman to trick people into giving him money.
It’s a lie.
It’s a lie for many nested reasons. We cannot possibly use that much “AI,” and even if we did, we shouldn’t, and even if we somehow do anyway, it’s getting exponentially less intensive to run. Not more expensive. It’s all just nonsense out of his mouth, and for some reason he doesn’t get called out for it.
I’m not trying to excuse the buildout, to be clear.
But I think the resources need to be put into perspective.