Yesterday I attended the first major protest against AI data centres in Vancouver. There was a solid turnout, more than I expected for an event organized by a teen who'd never run a protest and just put out some Instagram posts and physical posters on a few main streets. At least 300, maybe over 400 people? I'm trying to be conservative in my guesses.

Speaking to the crowd, the top concerns were the social and cultural effects of AI (misinformation, disconnection, undermining the arts), then environmental concerns (Vancouver is already under water restrictions due to drought; fossil fuel buildup for AI; etc), then prioritization (why is money and space going to this instead of housing, healthcare, etc). A few other topics came up less often, like economic effects.

The group shut down traffic on two of Vancouver's biggest streets, Granville and Broadway, including the Granville Street Bridge. They also passed through Granville Island, one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Canada.

#cdnpoli #canada #vancouver #britishcolumbia #ai #noai #datacenter #protest #protestsign #telus

hot take: if you think that you have to fear that contributors will abandon your software project because you ban llm contributions, there might be a bigger problem around

i am so tired of "ethical concerns aside" being a phrase i see every single time someone tries to defend the use of LLMs. fuck that! ethical concerns front and fucking center! it is very revealing that tech is currently in such a state that the quiet part can be said out loud without any pushback.