Over the decades I’ve seen how our lives have slowly become more and more electrified. Air fryers, smartphones, electric vehicles – every new gadget invented needs electricity to charge it, power it or update it. We’ve become an energy dependent generation. Power slaves!
And Hazel O’Connor also hit the nail on the head with her catchy 80s anthem Eighth Day whose lyrics are sounding more and more remarkably like a self-fulfilling prophecy:
On the sixth, man prepares his final dream
In our image, let's make robots for our slaves
Imagine all the time that we can save
Computers, machines, the silicon dream
Seventh, he retired from the scene
The sixth day has been coming about for the last 10 or so years but the AI revolution likely to eradicate jobs through automation will propel us rapidly towards day 7. We’ll be the ones ‘retired’ from the scene, unemployed, despondent, with even more mental health issues than we currently have. Unable to read maps, tie shoelaces or execute the most basic computations because our under-used brains will have turned to mush.
And he said, "Behold what I have done
I've made a better world for everyone
Nobody laugh, nobody cry
A world without end, forever and ever"
Amen (amen), amen (amen), amen (amen)
Yep, we’ll then seek to justify all the issues we’ve created by claiming that the world is indeed a ‘better’ place. Maybe for those raking in all the wonga at the expense of everyone else who’ll be sat around in their (taxed) underpants, stuffing their faces with over-salted, ultra processed snacks, goggled eyed and drooling over the latest episode of Strictly or growing petunias.
It’ll all end in tears. AI data centres will blight our once green and pleasant land like leprous vampires, sucking up water, electricity and other resources. Promises of billions in investment or jobs likely to be short-lived as they’ll be done by sentient systems and as we all know, once these companies get a toe-hold then magically all the ‘investment’ in local communities fails to materialise.
And after a few years of AI revolutionising our lives, we’ll arrive at the eighth day or as I like to call it the Terminator Scenario.
On the eighth day, machine just got upset
A problem man had never seen as yet
No time for flight, a blinding light
And nothing but a void, forever night
In our arrogance at playing God and inventing all these marvellous mechanical monstrosities, we’ll have overlooked the consequences of allowing AI to invade every aspect of our lives. Dare to contradict the omnipotent sentient machine and all hell will be unleashed. I only hope whoever is programming these new super computers has included an OFF switch which can manually override everything once we’ve had enough.
Billions in investment but what cost to our lives? Prepare to be a Power Slave. Data Centres need a lot of energy and if the grid isn’t producing enough then I suspect our own power supplies will be sacrificed to the great God of AI including that generated by solar systems on our very rooftops.
The question I’d like to ask these technological titans is this - ‘why build giant data centres in the UK and not in your own country?’ Don't your people need jobs? Don't you need to promote self sufficiency? Aren't you all about keeping America big, bold and beautiful?
I’m guessing that aside from the use of resources, it’s because they then can’t be blamed for increased greenhouse gas emissions. When the statistics are collated, people will forget these are American companies and just blame the UK instead.
Or is it because data centres push up energy bills? You consider it OK to make us poor British power slaves foot the AI bill but not your own people, is that it?
And finally, if you think I’m just a cynically crazy old cat lady with a head stuffed full of conspiracy theories (yep that's me!) then just type ‘data centres and the environment’ into your Google search facility. Even its own AI overview brings back the following result:
Hazel was right in thinking that mankind will eventually be the author of its own destruction. Way to go Haze, I'm right behind you on that one.
And finally, if you think I’m just a cynically crazy old cat lady with a head stuffed full of conspiracy theories (yep that's me!) then just type ‘data centres and the environment’ into your Google search facility. Even its own AI overview brings back the following result:
Data centers impact the environment through high energy and water consumption, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and stress on resources, as well as contributing to electronic waste.
Hazel was right in thinking that mankind will eventually be the author of its own destruction. Way to go Haze, I'm right behind you on that one.
Meanwhile, I’m gifting you all some interesting bedtime reading:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr9nx0jrzo
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-growth-of-data-centres-on-energy-consumption
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr9nx0jrzo
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-growth-of-data-centres-on-energy-consumption
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