AI thread

[Dr Strangelove]

Community Disruption: Data centers are described as detrimental to their surroundings, causing persistent noise pollution (9:28-10:28) that disrupts daily life and local wildlife. There are also safety concerns regarding infrastructure like massive gas storage tanks (11:30-11:46).
Economic Burden: The video points to evidence that electricity bills for local households spike in regions hosting these centers due to the massive energy consumption required to power them (12:29-13:09).
Water Consumption: Data centers require enormous amounts of water for cooling, which can strain local municipal supplies (15:52-16:43). The host notes that in some cases, these companies pay flat, minimal fees while residents are forced to conserve water (18:19-19:16).
Political Context: The video criticizes Mark Carney and the Liberal Party's embrace of AI as driven by financial interests rather than the public good (4:44-5:25), noting that while the NDP has pushed back with calls to ban algorithmic pricing (7:36-8:31), other parties remain largely silent or uncritical (8:36-9:20).

The former digital services tax was scrapped because it was flawed and would not stand up to the 1st court challenge. It was stillborn and I doubt that is even viable at this stage. Meanwhile, AI is raging on unencumbered by any rules or regulations while being embraced by the business community wholeheartedly as if it has no fear of regulation because it is too big to fail. We are at a very dangerous crossroads and blind adoption of AI is madness.