Data centers

[Spooky Owl!]

What the hell are they?

No one even knew the term two years ago, and they've cropped up in massive numbers across the country, using huge amounts of water, power and land, and creating unending noise throughout the night. The politicians and media support these data centers (when they even acknowledge their existence) while the citizenry of both parties are dead set against them.

Supposedly, they're for A.I. purposes. But their sudden roll-out has been too rapid and too organized to not seem utterly malevolent in intent.

What's your favorite conspiracy theory about these data centers? I envision them as gargantuan little Auschwitzes, all the water necessary to wash the blood off the floor. Others think they may be camps designed to force people into the genetic melding of Man & Machine our current overlords openly admit they want to facilitate. Others still believe these data centers are for surveilling all of us, with the bill placed at our own feet.

Perhaps all of the above.

At any rate, these centers seem to be the most dystopian, nefarious things I've heard of being done on American soil.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

Others still believe these data centers are for surveilling all of us, with the bill placed at our own feet.

That sounds the most plausible, especially since flock cameras are all the rage (pardon the pun.)

On the other hand, our "smart" tech has been able to spy on us for over a decade without needing these horrid monstrosities. The footage from the flock cameras probably requires more processing capability and storage space, but I still suspect these massive facilities are being used for more than just that.

Between the water and land they consume, as well as the noise they emit, perhaps they want us dehydrated, starving, and delirious so we can't fight back. We'll probably be living in the dark soon, considering the amount of power these centers consume. All for the greater good of the oligarchs, of course.

One thing is for sure; I don't want to be lectured about "climate change" or "conservation" from a wealthy elitist ever again.

 

[CryptCreeper72]

I live in a tiny little southern town in a rural area. We are fighting flock cameras and a proposed data center, but our elected officials are basically giving us all the middle finger. The people don't matter, control of the people is what matters.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Yeah, there's something additionally evil in all this that they're not telling us. As said above, they've had these surveillance capabilities for years. So what do the data centers offer them -- and cost us (rather than privacy and water and noise and irritation) -- that we don't know about?

Again, the speed and efficiency with which they're being rolled out is never a good sign. (And the local politicians are simply bought out with casual ease).

 

[Piggyrella Sanderson]

This reminds me of the traveling boxes in the SciFi show "Dark Matter", where you can go from a parallel universe to another through the doors inside a metal box. Maybe it´s a manoeuver of that Orange Goblin to conquer this world and all the others too... (good show by the way...)

 

[Crimson]

I hate to be the wet blanket when good conspiracies are a'brewing, but reality is both more boring and far more terrifying. Our leaders in the political and business worlds are flawed human beings who have no idea what they're doing. A secret cabal of baby-eating billionaires would be comforting compared to accepting that we follow idiots who are winging it every day. Most of them even think they're doing the right thing -- even if it's paired with a side of self-serving greed.

There is an AI arms race because a few companies are convinced it's "the next big thing" and they don't want to miss out. Massive amounts of capital investments are being pumped into these data centers to anticipate demand that may never materialize. Cash strapped local governments take the quick infusion of investment, even when their constituents are opposed and there's likely no long term benefit.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The main thing these data centers do is process all the computer/internet transactions that almost everyone* makes--not just the AI stuff but all the everyday stuff we've gotten so used to. So I roll my eyes when all these people rant and rave about the "invasion" of data centers as they spend every waking hour scrolling Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Tellytalk (maybe not in that order) while demanding ever-faster connections for video games, movies, etc. to download. If these people weren't so obsessed with being "connected" to their social media while experimenting with all the shiny new AI tools 24/7, there would not be so much demand for infrastructure to fulfill their wishes. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

A huge data center is supposedly going to be built in my home county and the company is going all out to "woo" the public, though I am pretty sure the data center is going to be built regardless of whether we accept the gifts or not. I say we ought to get every penny out of them before the companies start realizing they're riding a bubble.

* As someone who does not own a smart phone and is not on TikTok, Facebook, or any of that brainrot, I can ride my high horse all I want.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

Our leaders in the political and business worlds are flawed human beings who have no idea what they're doing. A secret cabal of baby-eating billionaires would be comforting compared to accepting that we follow idiots who are winging it every day.

But what if it's both? Because it apparently is.

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

Besides tech giants and politicians, I always hear people complaining about flock cameras and "AI slop." Why would these tech cronies (misguided or otherwise) believe there's a demand? Mainstream media outlets usually run cover for the elites, and even they released videos of college commencement speakers getting booed for touting AI. One speaker even called it "the next industrial revolution." When met with boos, they laugh it off and move full speed ahead with it anyway. The fact that they've gone all in on something this unpopular suggests there's more to it than gambling on public demand.

Smart phones and social media aren't exactly new either. The rollout of these expansive, noisy resource hogs makes me think we're not getting the whole story. Did demand for social media and high-speed Internet skyrocket overnight? Because the centers that processed everyday Internet traffic up to this point never created controversy like this. Oh, I'm sure they still require a ton of resources to maintain, but these new facilities sound even more nefarious. It also appears like there's a sense of urgency to them. They're trying to expedite the process of getting them built while telling the public to screw off.

Are people addicted to smart tech and social media? Yes. Of course, developing an addiction to anything is an insidious process. Did the tech companies create that addiction? Also, yes. Which, of course, makes the perfect pretense for building these facilities (along with AI being the "wave of the future.")

Whatever their purpose is, my other point still stands; as long as tech companies and politicians are in favor of these monstrosities, I don't want to be lectured by them about "climate change" ever again. I'm sick and tired of these oligarchs and their "rules for thee, but not for me" mentality.

 

[Rove]

and politicians are in favor of these monstrosities, I don't want to be lectured by them about "climate change" ever again.

Here in Australia our current esteemed leader bangs on about climate change and takes every opportunity to fly somewhere to inform the world about the evils of humans on the environment...and yet will probably turn up at some empty paddock with a hard hat, fluro vest and a highly polished shovel to turn the sod for another whopping data centre. Australia is one of the driest continents on Earth and when someone suggests when is the state or federal governments going to get serious about building new dams to capture that rare commodity the politicians take the attitude of..."Nothing to see here."

So where will the water come from to feed these massive data centres?

 

[Frankenstein Underworld]

It's still rather amazing to me that this aired on MSNBC (now rebranded as "MS NOW"):

 

[Daniel Avery]

Spoof site Babylon Bee is on the case as usual:

New Data Center Built To Handle Influx Of Online Rants Against Data Centers

LANCASTER, PA — Local officials confirmed on Monday that a new data center had been constructed to handle the massive influx of online rants about data centers.

babylonbee.com

Guess I'm part of the problem after all.

 

[CryptCreeper72]

As others have said, social media and demand for fast Internet service isn't new. It's the AI that is new and advancing at a breakneck pace. If there's a conspiracy here, I'd assume it has something to do with AI and using it to gain even more control over the people. Which the oligarchs want of course - until AI advances to the point that it takes control of them too.

 

[Spooky Owl!]

I'd assume it has something to do with AI and using it to gain even more control over the people. Which the oligarchs want of course - until AI advances to the point that it takes control of them too.

That's probably why the A.I. techs giants have been warning us about it in the last few months, and asking for regulation of their own industry -- because God knows they only care about themselves, so it must have dawned on them that they were personally endangered from their own product.

The problem being that the politicians are wired to be such whores, even the superrich tech giants can't get them to stop, not even get them to make themselves stop.