Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents pay the price

Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by ACCount39 on Thursday November 12, 2026 @03:40PM (#50473937)

The fact that made up issues like water use or waste heat, complete with faked research papers, are being used to push the issue? It does make one suspicious.

There is a lot of the broader anti-AI sentiment, so it's possible that the entire thing is just "people want to hear AI bad, so there's market in saying AI bad" - with media and politicians both recognizing the opportunity. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of it turned out to be coordinated influence campaigns.

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Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by pseudonimous-pr on Thursday November 12, 2026 @04:18PM (#50474429)

I agree with all your points. As with the rest of the anti-AI movement, I think the key is in the likely consequences. Slowing down the buildout and regulating AI in the West won't affect it elsewhere. At best it's tilting at windmills, so I think it's reasonable to suspect the worst.

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Re:Data centers need power – lower income, rural residents p... by mdtancsa on Thursday November 12, 2026 @04:21PM (#50474468)

thats what it kinda feels like to me. My intuition tells me the average non tech person has a very worried view of the future due to AI-- I mean, what industry out there says their industry has a non zero chance of ending life as we know it! So that in mind, people look for reasons to shore up their concerns. Datacenters = AI, therefore they are bad for all these reasons-- Reasons which could be applied to many industries.

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