Comment by mapontosevenths
14 days ago
I worked in a data center for a decade. None of the neighbors even knew what it was. One actually stopped me to ask.
It was very loud inside, but you couldn't hear it from outside unless the power failed and the generators came on.
Yes, the new ones often use dirty generators 24/7, and probably will for years. They are loud and toxic to the local community.
The answer to that is to outlaw running noisy generators. It probably already is. Most places already have noise pollution laws designed to harass teenagers with loud music. They should enforce them.
Force them to either install mufflers and proper exhausts on their generators or build their own power infrastructure. They don't now because nobody makes them and it would cost money.
If you outlaw noisy generators the DC doesn't get built, so it's the same as just outlawing the DC.
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The new AI ones are built below minimum standards as a cash grab and they somehow manage to be as loud as jet engines. I have no idea how they manage to achieve that, but I try to avoid denying reality. I agree that an ordinary non-AI data center is no worse than an office building without the people, but that isn't what's happening right now.
> somehow manage to be as loud as jet engines
Thats what anti-AI activists say. A decibel meter is about $20. For some reason the people in those videos never have one.
I saw one news report featuring a reporter casually holding a decibel meter. 55dB at a distance of about a kilometer.
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Here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/s/RAUfB2WAMD
In this case it's a constant 60dB metallic whine. I would be livid if they built this near my home.
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