CarolynCStamp@mastodon.social
Oct 11, 2026, 4:41 PMIs there an example of ONE data centre benefitting the community in which it lives? There seem to be many stories of the harm they cause.
Replies
John Ripleyjripley@mastodon.socialOct 11, 2026, 5:57 PM@CStamp I see some replies already like this, but data center didn’t used to mean “square mile of metal”, even just a few years ago. There were many huge ones, yes, but they were like that for economy of scale, and this all fulfilled basic needs of internet and services infrastructure. It could be as small as a few well air-conditioned rooms in an office.
The “AI” stuff is an entirely different scale. Almost doesn’t deserve to be put under the same umbrella.
- CarolynCStamp@mastodon.socialOct 11, 2026, 6:02 PM
@jripley Sure, but like AI, which does have a good and legitimate function, when we talk about both these days, we are not talking about the old days, we are talking about the predatory and huge scale of what the tech bros are trying to implement before they run out of money.
- John Ripleyjripley@mastodon.socialOct 11, 2026, 6:07 PM
@CStamp Right—in the old days, there was a built-in incentive to increase efficiency and density, because they increased profits, which meant that power usage was minimized. It's entirely different with "AI" because it's all funny-money. There are zero incentives to be efficient, and in fact entirely the opposite: they're building as fast as they can, bullying their way into as much land, power, and water use as they can, because they don't actually have to balance the books. Not _quite_ yet.