← Back to context

Comment by beeflet

1 day ago

We can generate more energy, fabricate more computer chips and collect more water, but the impact on labor will be irreversible.

5 comments

beeflet

Reply
Joel_Mckay  1 day ago

Energy is finite, and asking the public to fund a private firms irrational project is unethical.

"Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds" (Charles Mackay, 1852)

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24518/24518-h/24518-h.htm

I look forwards to buying the failed data center assets. LLM make great search engines, but are not the path to "AGI". Neuromorphic computing looks more interesting. Have a great day =3

  • beeflet  15 hours ago

    The amount of electricity we can produce is limited only by regulation, because we have practically unlimited amount of fission energy under our feet. That is what you are seeing now with all of these new nuclear plants being built and de-decommissioned. If that is too scary for you, we also have the world's greatest reserves of shale gas.

    I am not pro-AI, and I agree that the market will crash. But what I take issue with is this NIMBY mentality that we should nitpick proposals with a thousand fake reasons for why we can't build anything in this country. We can't do big engineering projects like china because they are too much of an eyesore or they use too much water or they're not zoned correctly.

    We can't put up a new apartment block, it's too much of a strain on the local water supply. Okay can we collect more water, invest in a new reservoir? Of course not, it will endanger the tumbleweed population.

    We can't let a new datacenter go up because it will cause everyone's power prices to increase. Okay maybe we can produce more power?? No, BECAUSE ENERGY IS FINITE AND THE SUN IS JUST GOING TO EXPLODE ANYWAYS SO WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE. WTF?

    Why can't we build things? Because we just can't, and actually it's impossible and you are rude for suggesting we build anything ever. It's circular reasoning designed to placate suburban NPCs.

    If you oppose AI because it is ruining art, or it will drive people out of jobs, just say that. Because these fake complaints about power and water are neither compelling nor effective (they are just technological and material problems which will be ironed out in the coming generations).