Well, well, well.... it seems that the claims for 'job creation' from the build out of data centres seem to be (shall we say) inflated.
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@ChrisMayLA6 There is a difference between a standard data center and the new AI data centers being built. Most data centers are built for general purpose computing, but AI data centers are almost entirely dominated by expensive graphics cards focused on a very narrow type of computing and cannot be easily repurposed for the computing needed for hosting websites and apps. When the AI bubble bursts or a more efficient means of running AI is found, these hyperscalers are going to go bankrupt the value of the hardware they are sitting on us going to crash and it's going to be just like 2008. You cannot run a website, host a cloud drive or serve an app on a graphics card alone. That said, when very high paying jobs are added to a local economy, the people working then spend their money, which will support hundreds of other jobs that wouldn't exist had that money not been circulating. Which is going to make the AI crash a lot worse than 2008.
@kittson @ChrisMayLA6 Also, risk of the pre-purchased specialist chips being obsolete before the data centre is built.
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@Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6
I wouldn't be surprised if meta tried to automate the maintenance of a data center. My point still stands about the subprime data center crisis probably being worse than 2008. And because governments have been captured with the AI race rhetoric that chatbots are somehow vital to national security, this time the taxpayers will foot the bill.@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 I think you're mixing up your boom and busts.
The AI bubble is far more akin to the dot.com bubble of the late 90s early 2000s.
The problems with any and all data centres, AI or cloud or general use, is the environmental impact. This has long been a problem that the focus on AI has finally highlighted.
AI isn't going away. It needs better regulation, legislation & oversight. Planning & implementation also needs to account for improvements in Tech. -
@kittson @ChrisMayLA6 Also, risk of the pre-purchased specialist chips being obsolete before the data centre is built.
@annehargreaves @kittson @ChrisMayLA6 This is a good point, because computer chip technology is still evolving. These proposed centres need robust impact assessments for the environment and longevity.
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Well, well, well.... it seems that the claims for 'job creation' from the build out of data centres seem to be (shall we say) inflated.
So just to be clear:
Data centres create less jobs than expected;
extract more water from locality than is sustainable;
increase emissions when in use;
and in any case may already be in sight of the end of their use (as computing technologies shift to more localised capacity).So what's the point of them, then?
#DataCentres #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/09/uk-datacentres-will-create-just-25-of-jobs-predicted-by-tech-sector-analysis-finds@ChrisMayLA6 People can't accept they were sold a scam until the rug pull comes.
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Well, well, well.... it seems that the claims for 'job creation' from the build out of data centres seem to be (shall we say) inflated.
So just to be clear:
Data centres create less jobs than expected;
extract more water from locality than is sustainable;
increase emissions when in use;
and in any case may already be in sight of the end of their use (as computing technologies shift to more localised capacity).So what's the point of them, then?
#DataCentres #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/09/uk-datacentres-will-create-just-25-of-jobs-predicted-by-tech-sector-analysis-finds@ChrisMayLA6 Anyone surprised? -
Well, well, well.... it seems that the claims for 'job creation' from the build out of data centres seem to be (shall we say) inflated.
So just to be clear:
Data centres create less jobs than expected;
extract more water from locality than is sustainable;
increase emissions when in use;
and in any case may already be in sight of the end of their use (as computing technologies shift to more localised capacity).So what's the point of them, then?
#DataCentres #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/09/uk-datacentres-will-create-just-25-of-jobs-predicted-by-tech-sector-analysis-finds@ChrisMayLA6
It sure looks to me like the goal is to build the data centers so fast the only option to power them is fossil fuel generators. When the datacenters are obsolete, we'll still have this massive generating capacity, so there will be "no point" in building renewable power. We'll wind up locked into fossil fuels for another generation, guaranteeing profits for the oil companies. -
@ChrisMayLA6
It sure looks to me like the goal is to build the data centers so fast the only option to power them is fossil fuel generators. When the datacenters are obsolete, we'll still have this massive generating capacity, so there will be "no point" in building renewable power. We'll wind up locked into fossil fuels for another generation, guaranteeing profits for the oil companies.Hmmm... interesting point; and boosted
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@ChrisMayLA6
It sure looks to me like the goal is to build the data centers so fast the only option to power them is fossil fuel generators. When the datacenters are obsolete, we'll still have this massive generating capacity, so there will be "no point" in building renewable power. We'll wind up locked into fossil fuels for another generation, guaranteeing profits for the oil companies.@VATVSLPR @ChrisMayLA6 worth noting that the methane fuelled generators they have been using to power the AI datacentres in the USA are mostly lots of small inefficient single pass turbines, not the more efficient combined cycle ones currently used to power the national grid. If we were to use these on-grid they would cost us even more than the gas generators we currently use to top up renewables and nuclear so once the data centres (and their demand) became history they would end up as scrap too.
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Hmmm... interesting point; and boosted
@ChrisMayLA6
I should be more careful about what I say. I don't want to say that oil companies are the driving force behind this stuff, just one of the driving forces. Nothing that has as much momentum behind it as AI datacenters do gets there with just one big backer. There are a bunch of different groups, each with their own reason. No one group is enough to push them through, but all the groups working their different angles are much more powerful. -
@VATVSLPR @ChrisMayLA6 worth noting that the methane fuelled generators they have been using to power the AI datacentres in the USA are mostly lots of small inefficient single pass turbines, not the more efficient combined cycle ones currently used to power the national grid. If we were to use these on-grid they would cost us even more than the gas generators we currently use to top up renewables and nuclear so once the data centres (and their demand) became history they would end up as scrap too.
@marjolica @ChrisMayLA6
Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it. As the saying goes, nothing is as permanent as a temporary solution, especially with a powerful interest pushing to keep that temporary solution going. -
@ChrisMayLA6
It sure looks to me like the goal is to build the data centers so fast the only option to power them is fossil fuel generators. When the datacenters are obsolete, we'll still have this massive generating capacity, so there will be "no point" in building renewable power. We'll wind up locked into fossil fuels for another generation, guaranteeing profits for the oil companies.@VATVSLPR @ChrisMayLA6
Exactly so then not too long into the future they will become surplus as technology changes and we don't need such big white elephants, they'll then sit empty a symbol of tech bros greed as we the humans struggle to get water and power -
Well, well, well.... it seems that the claims for 'job creation' from the build out of data centres seem to be (shall we say) inflated.
So just to be clear:
Data centres create less jobs than expected;
extract more water from locality than is sustainable;
increase emissions when in use;
and in any case may already be in sight of the end of their use (as computing technologies shift to more localised capacity).So what's the point of them, then?
#DataCentres #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/09/uk-datacentres-will-create-just-25-of-jobs-predicted-by-tech-sector-analysis-finds@ChrisMayLA6 @Lazarou And if you ignore security staff and cleaners (who essential though they are, are not highly paid) th number of jobs will be even lower.
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@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 I think you're mixing up your boom and busts.
The AI bubble is far more akin to the dot.com bubble of the late 90s early 2000s.
The problems with any and all data centres, AI or cloud or general use, is the environmental impact. This has long been a problem that the focus on AI has finally highlighted.
AI isn't going away. It needs better regulation, legislation & oversight. Planning & implementation also needs to account for improvements in Tech.@radiojammor @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 The biggest tech companies are secretly pushing for more regulation for entirely selfish reasons. They don't care about you or me, they just want to ban the competition. As for my prediction that the AI data center crisis will be like 2008: I say this because all the warning signs are there. These AI data centers in particular are being packaged into debt backed securities sold in traunches to investors based on the premise that the data center in question will continue to be useful until the debt is paid off. The scary part is that legally the people selling these data center securities don't have to tell the buyer what's in them and that the buyers are often pension funds, life insurance funds and annuity funds, and if those funds fail, the competing pensions and annuities are on the hook to pay for it, and then the taxpayer by extension though tax credits.
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@radiojammor @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 The biggest tech companies are secretly pushing for more regulation for entirely selfish reasons. They don't care about you or me, they just want to ban the competition. As for my prediction that the AI data center crisis will be like 2008: I say this because all the warning signs are there. These AI data centers in particular are being packaged into debt backed securities sold in traunches to investors based on the premise that the data center in question will continue to be useful until the debt is paid off. The scary part is that legally the people selling these data center securities don't have to tell the buyer what's in them and that the buyers are often pension funds, life insurance funds and annuity funds, and if those funds fail, the competing pensions and annuities are on the hook to pay for it, and then the taxpayer by extension though tax credits.
@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 You're overhyping the global effect of this. We had a global downturn in 2008, we had an IT downturn around the millenium. That is what this will be.
Your point about Tech companies wanting selfish regulation is noted, but isn't a response to the point about needing "better" regulation.
You come across therefore as dismissing the need for regulation at all, because the bad actors want their own kind, as well as ignoring the point about low job nos.
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@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 You're overhyping the global effect of this. We had a global downturn in 2008, we had an IT downturn around the millenium. That is what this will be.
Your point about Tech companies wanting selfish regulation is noted, but isn't a response to the point about needing "better" regulation.
You come across therefore as dismissing the need for regulation at all, because the bad actors want their own kind, as well as ignoring the point about low job nos.
@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 You're not going to get these global knock-on effects of a boom and bust from a particular sector with low job numbers.
It won't be good, but you're over-hyping without real basis.
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@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 You're not going to get these global knock-on effects of a boom and bust from a particular sector with low job numbers.
It won't be good, but you're over-hyping without real basis.
@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 These Data Centres for the most part don't even exist yet, and requiring proper environmental impact assessments will for the most part either block them or send them back to the design stage, to comply. This is what we should be concentrating on. This boom and bust could happen before they are built and before any of the relatively few jobs they create come to be.
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@kittson @Kjaerulv @ChrisMayLA6 These Data Centres for the most part don't even exist yet, and requiring proper environmental impact assessments will for the most part either block them or send them back to the design stage, to comply. This is what we should be concentrating on. This boom and bust could happen before they are built and before any of the relatively few jobs they create come to be.
@radiojammor @kittson @Kjaerulv
Yes, the moment to act is during the planning stage.... but of course, the Govt.may decide that as Data Centres are vital national infrastructure that they can & should over-ride environmental concerns - after all they have some form there
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