YHK - yet another hacker news clone

Most Americans Say AI Is Bad for Society, Oppose More Data Centers

35 points karakoram 2 hours ago 28 comments

cdrnsf 2 hours ago | parent

Most Americans would be correct.

nomel 1 hour ago | parent

As they answer the poll on the data center hosted website, before ordering delivery by making a data center hosted phone call, with the driver getting to their house via datacenter hosted mapping service. The driver hands them their food along with a small Amazon delivery box that was waiting on their porch, delivered via the work of many data centers. They then go enjoy a streaming movie as they eat their dinner, after telling Alexa to dim the lights, and to order more napkins.

techgnosis 1 hour ago | parent

"And yet...you are part of society. Interesting..."

nomel 58 minutes ago | parent

Sorry, my point was that I don't think the average person understands they're constantly making use of data centers.

pebble 54 minutes ago | parent

Doest mean we need so many of them.

cdrnsf 47 minutes ago | parent

Perhaps not but there's a vast difference between the infrastructure that had been used prior to the current boom in hyperscalers. If I had to choose between DoorDash and breathing the exhaust generated by 30+ gas generators I know what I'd pick.

shimman 51 minutes ago | parent

Hyper scale data centers are absolutely not the same, and you're making it sound as if people have a real choice when oligarchs control everything.

All I'm getting from your comment is maybe the government should provide public options for payment processors, gig workers, social media, email, and operating systems.

Maybe they should start by nationalizing a few of these companies and provide the benefits to the public instead of the billionaires.

techblueberry 43 minutes ago | parent

I dont have an Alexa.

and maybe what I’m taking away from your post is too many god damned things rely on a datacenter.

greggoB 48 minutes ago | parent

Tbh I'm surprised it's only 57%, I had thought with all the reporting over the datacenter backlash it would be more like 75%+.

ravenstine 1 hour ago | parent

They say it's bad for society, but look at what they choose to consume.

Henchman21 1 hour ago | parent

When the only choices you can afford are _hot garbage_, it starts to seem like the game is rigged against you.

up2isomorphism 1 hour ago | parent

It is not contradictory at all. If your neighbor has a gun you probably buy a gun too in fact probably a bigger one.

ETH_start 31 minutes ago | parent

This is a tool for creation. So if it's giving one party a competitive advantage over another, that suggests it gives people creative powers. This is very much unlike a weapon where another party having a more effective weapon imposes only negative costs on you. Another party having more creative powers has significant positive externalities that benefit you.

newfriend 42 minutes ago | parent

Most Americans have an IQ of around 100.

gonzalohm 4 minutes ago | parent

Yet for this one they seem to be smarter than the rest

eli_gottlieb 4 minutes ago | parent

Yes, 100 is by definition the population mean of IQ.

ETH_start 32 minutes ago | parent

Americans reveal their preferences in their consumer choices. AI is the most rapidly adopted service in human history.

pimlottc 26 minutes ago | parent

When AI is jammed into every product and inserted at the top of ever TV search result, adoption isn’t really a choice

ETH_start 13 minutes ago | parent

ChatGPT is now used by 1.2 billion people on a monthly basis. This is not an embedded product that people are being forced into. They are navigating to the website to use it.

fennecbutt 24 minutes ago | parent

I've seen interesting points made on this topic. Like how on the whole China/Asia poll more favourably in public perception and adoption of AI.

I'm still skeptical that the source of Western dissent is misinformation campaigns run by said Asiatic bloc, though.

thepryz 20 minutes ago | parent

I'm skeptical that the misinformation campaigns are run by China, et al. but I do believe there are a number of competing interests directly manipulating public perception.

estearum 13 minutes ago | parent

And surely “the public” doesn’t include “thepryz” though!

gonzalohm 5 minutes ago | parent

Have you seen the behavior of all big tech companies in the US for the past few decades?

thepryz 22 minutes ago | parent

Americans, as a whole, lack intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and are easily manipulated by the media. The amount of misinformation on both sides of the AI and data center debate is staggering but stirring up fear drives engagement and revenue so here we are.

add-sub-mul-div 16 minutes ago | parent

Broadly writing off the opinions of people who don't share your views is the height of incuriosity.

bezier-curve 14 minutes ago | parent

I think for me at least, my main concern with data centers is the energy fueling them and the air pollution. It's not fair to buy up property around residential areas and force portable natural gas turbine emissions into people's lives. We need these powered by renewable energy at minimum.

turpentine 4 minutes ago | parent

Additionally, I would ask what the economic benefits are.

If they are structured to end up running at a loss and generate almost zero tax revenue (i.e. just payroll tax on a dozen full time staff) on large amounts of revenue, is that good for the people of the city/state/country?