A big reason why data centers are such a potent political symbol of technological evil is that they are very PHYSICAL. Unlike most technology infrastructure that is barely visible in the course of people's ordinary lives, data centers are typically enormous and obvious, barbed wire surrounded symbols of billionaires' domination over ordinary people. They can negatively impact water availability, they can boost power rates, they can spew out noise and generator pollution 24/7. The jobs they create during construction are ephemeral -- after completion they're typically run by a handful of permanent employees. They are tangible symbols that people of all ages and political inclinations, in both rural and urban areas, can easily see as the dominating billionaire instrumentalities that they are, bringing AI to wipe out culture and jobs and communities.
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@lauren Your last sentence really drives it home. It's all those negatives coupled with the fact that people no longer believe the hype and resent having the rich and powerful lie to their faces. The intent is never to actually make our lives better and when they pretend it is, it's just twisting the knife while they pick our pockets.