Post · bonfire.cafe

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/116477011532548038

I need to finish the talk I said I'd give soon about environmental consequences of genAI. A lot of the talk will focus on the situation in orbit and the parade of ludicrous proposals for orbital AI data centres, because that's my area of expertise, and because the talk is here in Saskatchewan and SpaceX shit keeps falling on us from orbit so it's pretty relevant!

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 6 days ago

Don't worry, Sam, SpaceX won't ACTUALLY launch 7,000 satellites! (There are currently 10,296 Starlink sats in orbit)

Don't worry, SpaceX said they'd get their satellites fainter than magnitude 7! (They have not https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2025MNRAS.544L..15M/PUB_PDF)

Don't worry, they won't actually start Kessler Syndrome! https://outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashclock/

Don't worry, they won't actually launch a million AI data centres into orbit!! https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366

This is the fucking worst I-told-you-so https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽

@Sassinake@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

@sundogplanets we are being trapped in a web of lies.

that will eventually rain fire from the skies upon our heads.

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/116460294820687486

And for the first part of the talk, about environmental consequences of ground-based AI data centres, I've got a whole lot of very excellent articles and resources to sift through (see quote-toot below). So hopefully I can do that tomorrow.

But I know for sure how I'm starting the talk, with the best/most horrifying AI quote from @pluralistic:

“AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations”

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

My talk slides about environmental consequences of AI data centres are here https://uregina.ca/~slb861/AIdatacentre_2026apr30_lawler.pdf, with lots of references. This is probably the ugliest set of slides I've ever made. But there are lots of references! (Note that some of the links within the satellite pollution part of the talk are internal links to show movies, because that's the best way I could do it, so those will be broken. Every other link to a reference should work).

crater🐮n

@cratermoon@zirk.us · 2 days ago

@sundogplanets I see you use Cory Doctorow’s asbestos analogy. I’ve used that as well, but someone pointed out to me that unlike “AI”, asbestos was in fact very good at what it was used for. Lately I’ve referred to the early 20th century craze for putting radioactive material everywhere, as supposedly healthy, for a better analogy. https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/radioactive-quack-cures/pills-potions-and-other-miscellany/radithor.html and https://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-08/healthy-glow-drink-radiation/

Popular Science

For that Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation!

A century ago radioactivity was new, exciting and good for you--at least if you believed the people selling radium pendants for rheumatism, all-natural radon water for vigor, uranium blankets for arthritis and thorium-laced medicine for digestion (you don't even want to know about the radioactive suppositories).

Come On Giant Asteroid!

@VE2UWY@mastodon.radio · 2 days ago

@cratermoon @sundogplanets

I mean ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_U-238_Atomic_Energy_Laboratory

Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory - Wikipedia

1 more replies

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

@cratermoon WOW thank you for sharing this.

1 more replies

John Appel

@jappel@wandering.shop · 2 days ago

@sundogplanets Thank you for sharing! Will share this with my electeds here in the US.

Dan Sugalski

@wordshaper@weatherishappening.network · 2 days ago

@sundogplanets Nice. Thanks for sharing the slides! (And if it means anything, your slides look massively better than mine do when I make sets for presentations :)

Matt Griffin

@mattgriffin@masto.ai · 2 days ago

@sundogplanets every now and then I remember that I'm on a .ai mastodon server, but the admin bought it so that the AI bros couldn't.

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

@mattgriffin I included your NOOO logo! The ".ai" actually makes the logo a lot funnier, in my opinion haha.

1 more replies

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 2 days ago

Special thank you to everyone who sent me useful links, especially @sy and @Aepasek for sending me their slides for similar talks!

I'm not looking for feedback on these slides, they are ugly. I'm basically just sharing the reference list with anyone who is interested in giving a similar talk or educating your gov't reps about this issue.

Cadmus 🌲

@camless@m.ai6yr.org · 2 days ago

@sundogplanets @sy @Aepasek These are great. Echoing the same issues from the #PNW where data centers are likely using a combined billion gallons of water a year for data centers in water-stressed and drought areas.

Leonardo Fontenelle

@leonardof@bertha.social · 5 days ago

@sundogplanets @pluralistic

Yeah, let's throw asbestos into the air instead /s

Sy Taffel

@sy@mastodon.nz · 5 days ago

@sundogplanets Happy to pass on the slides from this talk if it'd be of any help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKoszquvQQ4

Prof. Sam Lawler

@sundogplanets@mastodon.social · 5 days ago

@sy Thanks! Will DM

Guvna

@Brewbike@norcal.social · 5 days ago

@sundogplanets @pluralistic
My thought is that the safest Nuclear Reactors are run by government, not corporations because they try to save money on safety. Consider the US navy and the safety on thier reactors.