"Here, in Richland Parish, Meta is constructing a data center so large Mark Zuckerberg says the footprint would cover Manhattan from Harlem to Union Square. The behemoth will suck up 2.3 gigawatts of power-twice what New Orleans uses on its hottest days. And to keep it running, the utility company Entergy is building three new gas plants, its first new ones in decades."
"But those statistics are misleading (notably, the columnist offering them worked with Planet FWD, a company that offers "AI-powered lifecycle carbon assessments"). For one, it leaves AI-generated videos, which are highly energy-intensive, out of the comparison. But it's no surprise to see this downplayed by a publication whose owner, Jeff Bezos, is up to his neck in AI-data-center investments. Instead, we are put at ease: AI will the climate crisis."
Meta is constructing an enormous data center in Richland Parish that will consume about 2.3 gigawatts, prompting Entergy to build three new gas plants to supply power. Reported statistics can be misleading when they omit energy-intensive AI uses like generated videos and when sourced from firms tied to AI lifecycle assessments. Current AI development requires large amounts of dirty energy and resources even as companies promise eventual societal benefits. Marketing language such as "superhuman" and "superintelligence" anthropomorphizes algorithms while studies show these tools can erode human cognitive and writing abilities. Data centers are being used to justify further fossil-fuel infrastructure and profits.
Read at The Nation
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