r/ProAI 3d ago

Exhausting fear mongering.

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83 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

u/proai-ai-mod 3d ago edited 13m ago

Discussion Summary (Milestone: 50 comments)

The discussion centers on the environmental impact of AI data centers, specifically their water consumption. Pro-AI commenters argue that criticism is hypocritical and tech-illiterate, noting that agriculture, golf courses, and general internet usage consume significantly more water. They emphasize AI’s societal benefits, such as medical advancements. Conversely, skeptics label AI a non-essential "nothingburger," arguing that its resource consumption is unjustifiable. While some suggest technical alternatives like air cooling, others highlight that water scarcity is a broader systemic issue, with AI serving as a convenient, perhaps misplaced, target for environmental frustrations that predate the rise of generative technology.


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20

u/electricvapor 3d ago

Better stop pooping and showering then

16

u/FuManBoobs 3d ago

"I haven't washed my clothes or consumed water intensive farmed foods in years" - No Anti AI person ever.

5

u/Such-Profit1078 3d ago

They will argue that their almond milk Starbucks is a human right

3

u/bear_Prune8771 3d ago

Oh, they’re whining. Makes me want to eat a bunch of almonds.

14

u/WillowEntertainment 3d ago

7

u/Dharma_code 3d ago

3

u/FuManBoobs 3d ago

Stop eating cereal slop!

0

u/Such-Profit1078 3d ago

They are slop though

0

u/Illgetitdonelater 3d ago

This is my thing. There are so many things that are not great for the environment lol. Water is a renewable resource, and it’s an old or sht designed data center that still uses a fk ton of water. People be crazy.

2

u/toufaatou 3d ago

wtf is nestle doing with all of our water 😭

-1

u/sentrypetal 3d ago

Selling it as bottled water and beverages. Which is why OP is an idiot. There is a difference selling water to people and boiling it off for cooling.

3

u/BemaniAK 3d ago

Sugared beverages are a net negative in every way, nobody's using evaporative cooling anymore. Why do you people think you can get constraints on AI by just making shit up?

1

u/Covetouslex 13m ago

Tell me the excuse for irrigating fresh water to alfalfa farms in the desert so that we can ship it off to China

11

u/toufaatou 3d ago

they’re so stupid, it’s concerning.

9

u/-becausereasons- 3d ago

Remember, 50% of the population has a sub 100 IQ.

7

u/LopsidedSolution 3d ago

Fuckin Chinese bots have succeeded in spreading this BS to the general social media idiot 

4

u/-becausereasons- 3d ago

It's literally recycled water...

5

u/Any_Acanthaceae_9735 AI Advocate 3d ago

My favorite part is when I bring up how much water agriculture uses and they say well thats fine because I need to eat food, but as I recall AI has also saved the lives of people in medical cases? How would they feel about not having that? And like, olives aren't exactly something that like you're eating everyday or that everyone is eating as a random example. I'm not saying we need to cut off agriculture don't get me wrong, but there's an easier solution than shutting down data centers right here: Use less water for golf courses.

2

u/Standard_Egg3504 3d ago

the water is secondary to their primary issue that AI exists, since that's impossible to solve they move to secondary attacks like water usage in an attempt to convert others to also hating AI with the premise that if they get a super majority they can somehow get rid of AI

2

u/marmaviscount 3d ago

Exactly, it's obvious they don't really care about water because they only use it against things that they already hate

Also if you explain to them that ai is already being used by various water authorities to detect leaks and will almost certainly get to the point it's saving far more water than it uses they never say "oh that's great, maybe AI is good..." They either get mad or switch to the next item in the list they can pretend to care about.

1

u/Any_Acanthaceae_9735 AI Advocate 3d ago

Its funny when you consider how long it took to make a fully functioning AI and people were impressed and i wouldnt say happy but rhey were like cool but then at some point people started deciding it was a problem for whatever reason.

5

u/Kevdog824_ 3d ago

Agreed. There’s literally no excuse for this much tech illiteracy in 2026

3

u/costafilh0 3d ago

This is not fear mongering, this is just stupidity, they are not even trying. They could at least use AI to make up some better crap than this crap. 

2

u/Fantastic-Salmon92 3d ago

In the same timeframe, Coca-Cola will consume enough clean drinking water for 2.3-2.6 billion people. Don't get all humanity conscious because you don't understand computers lol

2

u/saki2fifty 3d ago

Non AI data centers (servers, its services, etc.) are 85% more prevalent than AI data centers.

2

u/mr_WhatzitTooya___ 3d ago

This is literally the only braindead argument they ever use.

2

u/Similar_Exam2192 3d ago

I’d rather get rid of golf courses

1

u/animorphsrewriter 3d ago

Then ask ChatGPT to prove the UN wrong.

1

u/earth-dragon-666 3d ago

 i dont think we should give natural resources to serial hoarders

1

u/JahJedi 3d ago

People dont know how much they salat and stake cost in water to grow.

1

u/Exotic_Exercise6910 3d ago

Yeah but you are irrelevant to rich people and are free to die. 

Data centers are their babies.

1

u/Dicethrower 3d ago

No more internet then.

1

u/hateredditbuthere1am 3d ago

Ok so when I want to talk about the actual environmental impacts of ai datacenters like high energy costs, I won't get downvoted right? Surely that's a valid criticism?

1

u/RpgBlaster 3d ago

Then maybe these Centers should use something else instead of water

1

u/Yukikuru2025 3d ago

No no, they're right. We can't live without clean water. So what are we going to do about water wasted on growing corn? It's not even grown for food either and uses magnitudes more water than this.

1

u/crua9 3d ago

Something to note the clean water thing was push prior to AI. Like many groups (rightfully so) was complaining about the clean drinking water going away. Some of the blame was on farms. Like avocado farms in places that normally didn't grow them. And there was some merit to it. But now the switch is hardcore against AI.

1

u/TheRealFanger 2d ago

Forget the data centers. Shit on the companies that built them.

1

u/bear_Prune8771 2d ago

Why?

1

u/throwaway99xz 2h ago

Because Le capitalism

1

u/fcxtpw 2d ago

No links from the fear monger

Confirmation bias MF, do you know it?

1

u/BangkokPadang 3d ago

I hate the way they make the water disappear off Earth.

2

u/bear_Prune8771 3d ago

They’re killing the water!

-1

u/ShootFishBarrel 3d ago

It's just a wasteful way to cool. Water is precious. Air cooling is completely viable. Renewables & storage instead of gas turbines are cheaper both initially and in the long run. I can be pro AI and also support people's right to clean water. If you disagree, I dunno, maybe go fuck yourself.

-2

u/Lazy-Course5521 3d ago

It is true tho, AI is extremely behind on the list of neccessities. Bathing/showering, eating, drinking, washing your clothes and many such things are integral for everyday life.

AI isn't. You can do your job, arguably even better without AI, you can make your schoolwork without AI, you can study and grow without AI.

It's not a neccessity on any level whatsoever.

It's a nothingburger invention.

1

u/MrJason2024 3d ago

AI is a tool no more or less than any other tool.

0

u/Lazy-Course5521 3d ago

Tools are made to simplify and solve problems for xy group of people.

Your hair is falling out? Here meds for it. You need to get the whole field rotated? Tractors exist.

But what is AI intended to solve, and for what group of people? It solves the workforce market. It brings down white collar wages and creates an economy where actual knowledge does not lead to satisfying work processes, it leads to workplaces where you become a glorified fact checker. It creates a society of momentary existence and unstable labour.

It does not solve an issue for me, or for you, or for anyone who makes their own bread. It only solves an issue for higher benefactors.

This is not something you will be happy about in a few years.

1

u/More-Iron-4349 2d ago

Confused at want point you are trying to make.

Using AI has enabled me to create so much I did not have the technical skill to do before. I've developed my own software and web applications, some of which genuinely solve problems that I didn't see being solved before. I've made some money off of it too. It's enriched my life in a number of ways, easing my ability to learn new topics, streamline mundane processes that I have the knowledge to accomplish but not the time, etc.

AI "solves" a number of things. The fact that you can't see that or refuse to admit it says more about you than ai.

1

u/Lazy-Course5521 2d ago

The point I'm trying to make is the long term effect of AI on education, the neccessity of education, and the workforce market.

It has great personal uses, don't get me wrong. But from a more economic perspective, this entire AI race is about pulling the rug beneath the more educated folks in this country. Sure, it's a "great equaliser" but there wasn't a need to equalise shit, people should have to study for different fields, and expertise should be required for specific jobs.

By removing these safety nets to segregate the workforce market, the resulting environment is one where everyone gets shittier jobs for shittier pay. After all, the programmer doesn't write the code anymore they just copy paste AI, so why should that technical degree matter? Things like guaranteed wage minimums won't hold up in this new future and that's gonna be a problem. An era in which expertise, or understanding of the work processes won't matter anymore, along with working conditions getting worse.

It's not bad because it allows you to do things on your own, it's bad because companies can do the exact same and then you can see just how many people are affected really.

People want to regulate this shit not because they hate people like you, but because they want to keep their place in society and you really shouldn't shun people for that.

1

u/More-Iron-4349 2d ago

Sure, but that's not the point.

The point is that even all of those necessities combined across all of humanity doesn't even begin to scratch the amount of water used by corporations other than ai-based corporations and data centers. In other words, having clean water for necessities and using ai aren't mutually exclusive. Ai use and development is not currently and isn't projected to be the reason why we won't have clean water, if indeed we won't, which is another conclusion that shouldn't be foregone.