Alison PowellDec 28, 2022
Meredith Whittaker

Climate change is already threatening the data centers required to power large scale tech, like "AI".

Or, accounting for climate we see a tech future that's patchier & less always-on + ubiquitous, NOT larger and more powerful.

This doesn't mean that those with power to shape and control tech will themselves grow less powerful. But it does mean that the colloquial Moore's law fantasies of tech, particularly popular in "AI", will face a series of hard stops. @mel_hogan

Dec 23, 2022 at 3:16pmWeb
Show threadKatrina MathesonDec 23, 2022
@Mer__edith @mel_hogan Yes. I just wrote a paper (for a class - PhD student here) about how AI and Climate Change represent emerging epistemes in direct opposition.
Show threadMél Hogan 🏳️‍🌈😷Dec 23, 2022

@KatrinaMatheson @Mer__edith

Oh, could I read it?

Show threadKatrina MathesonDec 23, 2022
@mel_hogan @Mer__edith yes! I would love that. I am hoping to present it at Congress in a few months. If you follow me I can message it to you?
Show threadVesna ManojlovićDec 27, 2022
@KatrinaMatheson Katrina, can you please share that paper? thanks!
Show threadAlison PowellDec 27, 2022
@KatrinaMatheson @Mer__edith @mel_hogan very interested in this! I teach around these topics. And research too I guess
Show threadMark KruegerDec 23, 2022
@Mer__edith @mel_hogan I think it’s likely large AI data centers will migrate off-planet (orbit, etc) soon. This will allow access to unlimited super-cooling as well as much more efficient solar power. Once Starship (100 tons to orbit, fully re-usable) is flying regularly in 1 to 2 years this should become cost effective. The data latency will be an issue, but many AI tasks are not latency limited.
Show threadMeredith WhittakerDec 23, 2022
@markkrueg @mel_hogan this scenario seems very optimistic, and predicated on a version of the future in which climate change somehow fails to transform/dismantle the productive and organizational structures that shape human life currently.
Show threadテンセイ ・ tensei Dec 28, 2022
@Mer__edith @mel_hogan I think we are sooner going to see a social stop/blocker to data centers once water resources become strained- many of these data centers are misusing municipal potable water resources for cooling. As a web dev, I love the internet, but I love people being able have reliable access to clean potable water even more
Show threadMél Hogan 🏳️‍🌈😷Dec 28, 2022

@tnsi @Mer__edith

i’ve written a lot about water and data centers in the last ten years and am happy to share if of interest! some of it addresses exactly what you mention here

**water “resources” are already strained … extremely so!

Show threadNadia/Надя/नाडिया/娜迪亚/ ناديةJan 24, 2023

@Mer__edith @mel_hogan

It might degrade the quality & performance of new parts more than shut things down in itself, but some materials used to build computers (hafnium noted in the article) are dwindling:

https://www.engineering.com/story/what-raw-materials-are-used-to-make-hardware-in-computing-devices

What Raw Materials Are Used to Make Hardware in Computing Devices?

Over 50 of the world’s 90 naturally occurring elements are used in over 8.5 billion computing devices

Engineering.com