After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans.
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@matdevdug I am not an expert on electronics, but let's say somebody with a pair of 20 Kg of salt sacks got to the water refrigeration system. Would it be good?
@Illuminatus I mean I once watched the Roblox guy take out the entire region by tripping on a fiber optic cable and ripping it out of a switch. I think you'll be great.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug It's also odd to be afraid of the "self-improving AI". Have you looked what GPUs you need to run these models? The "scaling to infinity" will end where people haven't started to build datacentres.
When I saw the interview of this guy, my first thought was: "Go outside, touch some grass, talk with normal people. You'll be fine."
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug
The danger from data centers is the same danger that human beings pose to each other. It is exactly the same, the same thing. The danger is that some human will employ the information delivered by the data center in order to harm humans. The danger is not that the machines will harm us, but that we will harm each other, via the machines. -
After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug So TechBros have been stealing my RAM for decades already?..
This makes me less bullish on Capitalism.
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@matdevdug
The danger from data centers is the same danger that human beings pose to each other. It is exactly the same, the same thing. The danger is that some human will employ the information delivered by the data center in order to harm humans. The danger is not that the machines will harm us, but that we will harm each other, via the machines.@johntinker @matdevdug
Also diesel generators polluting the neighborhood. -
After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug As someone who has snuck into a Google data center they've never been to before with just a photocopy of a badge, I concur with this assessment.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug @inthehands Just for the sake of argument, a sufficiently intelligent AI would be aware of this. It could opt for a stealthy strategy instead, like getting most of the humanity addicted to short form videos or something and persuading them it’s in their best interest to keep the data centers running. Or offering a bunch of people the life of gods in endless surplus while keeping the rest of the people in poverty and distance.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug The “AI killing all humans” line is bullshit designed to distract from the real story: LLMs are a dead-end tech with no scope for improvement.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug let's goooooo
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug don't even have to go in to the building to damage the machines. Pour concrete into the HVAC intake and exhaust system from outside. Those machines will fry themselves long before airflow is restored
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug i am assuming if any shenanigans happen that LE can and will geofence to see who might of been around the DC that day.
my suggestion is if you must:
leave the phone and all fancy devices at home
cover your face if you gotta walk through a surveilled public area
take public transportation
if you can, don’t directly get off near the DC
if you are picked up by LE, stfu and get a lawyer
(These are of course only suggestions)
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
On one hand, I am like: "yup, yup, oh yes, yup, seen this before".
On the other hand, I am like: "oh man, you really need a better hosting facility".
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug I'm wondering if datacentres have changed in the last 25+ years...
When I was going to a datacentre near Sterling, VA -- the building was unmarked, there was no visible 'front door' from the street. When I finally found it, the door was 4" thick, and took a substantial amount of effort to open.
Inside, you were in an empty room with no chairs, the security guards were behind bulletproof glass, and their office was about 3' higher than the floor in the room. There were multiple assault-style weapons displayed on the wall behind them.
You had to provide your name, company, and cage number before they slid down a steel box to put your driver's license and company ID into. They kept both until you returned to leave the building.
I was accompanied by an armed security guard.
The man-trap was a 25' long inclined hallway with 1" pipe spigots pointing down to the floor. When I asked what the pipes were for, he said "Urethane Foam" but didn't elaborate. To get through the door at the top of the man-trap it required a badge, an 8 digit number entered onto a PIN pad, and a biometric hand scan.
When I got to the company's cage, I was told "Don't leave your cage without calling downstairs first." Cell phones didn't work in the building, so they would hand you a wired telephone to plug in inside the cage. I wasn't about to disobey the guy with the gun.
Admittedly, this was the most extreme place I'd been, but I've also been to cold-war-era nuclear bunkers inside mountains of granite, and a small, unassuming building in the English countryside with no windows that I was told could withstand a plane hitting it -- because 90% of the building was underground.
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@matdevdug I'm wondering if datacentres have changed in the last 25+ years...
When I was going to a datacentre near Sterling, VA -- the building was unmarked, there was no visible 'front door' from the street. When I finally found it, the door was 4" thick, and took a substantial amount of effort to open.
Inside, you were in an empty room with no chairs, the security guards were behind bulletproof glass, and their office was about 3' higher than the floor in the room. There were multiple assault-style weapons displayed on the wall behind them.
You had to provide your name, company, and cage number before they slid down a steel box to put your driver's license and company ID into. They kept both until you returned to leave the building.
I was accompanied by an armed security guard.
The man-trap was a 25' long inclined hallway with 1" pipe spigots pointing down to the floor. When I asked what the pipes were for, he said "Urethane Foam" but didn't elaborate. To get through the door at the top of the man-trap it required a badge, an 8 digit number entered onto a PIN pad, and a biometric hand scan.
When I got to the company's cage, I was told "Don't leave your cage without calling downstairs first." Cell phones didn't work in the building, so they would hand you a wired telephone to plug in inside the cage. I wasn't about to disobey the guy with the gun.
Admittedly, this was the most extreme place I'd been, but I've also been to cold-war-era nuclear bunkers inside mountains of granite, and a small, unassuming building in the English countryside with no windows that I was told could withstand a plane hitting it -- because 90% of the building was underground.
@JustinDerrick There are absolutely datacenters this secure. The ones I've been in personally have been for financial trading. Those followed the security procedures you would expect. Lots of armed guards, entirely inaccessible by the street, two security checks for incoming packages and deliveries on freight elevators.
LLM datacenters are not that. They are the cheap design of datacenter, where it's basically as secure as a warehouse.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug are you sure the guy is not named Greg?
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug Ours has K rated fencing. To be fair I don't think the point of most DC security is to fend off an infantry platoon.
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After years inside datacenters, it’s hard to be afraid of AI killing all humans. I've seen the "secure facility." It's a chain link fence and a guy named Gary.
Night shift is usually 10-20 people. Two hundred people could shut a datacenter down with nothing but a Wikipedia article on fiber optics and some enthusiasm. Start swinging and you’ll hit something valuable pretty fast.
The "secure cages"? Chain link. The lobby's got badges and mancatchers and a guard who checks your ID like it insulted him. Out back it's a sliding metal door, propped open with a folding chair by whoever's waiting on FedEx.
It's not a fortress. It's a strip mall with better cable management.
@matdevdug Unforunately, the bioengineered viruses have already spread too far. Shortly after your 30-50 feral Wikipedians exit the building holding garlands of cut fiber, they start coughing blood. By the end of the week, not one of them remains alive, nor does anyone else.
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@Illuminatus I mean I once watched the Roblox guy take out the entire region by tripping on a fiber optic cable and ripping it out of a switch. I think you'll be great.
@matdevdug @Illuminatus I've seen all internet for a town be taken out with one guy, and a mini-digger with an auger drill attached.
I dread to think how long it took to get all of that cable and fibre off the drill bit. It must have been miles of it. It took them weeks to restore service.
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@matdevdug @Illuminatus I've seen all internet for a town be taken out with one guy, and a mini-digger with an auger drill attached.
I dread to think how long it took to get all of that cable and fibre off the drill bit. It must have been miles of it. It took them weeks to restore service.
@weebull @matdevdug @Illuminatus
We saw much of the wired internet for two counties taken out by just that, about 9 or so months ago.ASIDE: One of our networking folks was able to pinpoint the location using their network trace tools & send us a Google Maps photo of where it happened. When the provider later sent out photos, turned out he was exactly right.
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@matdevdug Unforunately, the bioengineered viruses have already spread too far. Shortly after your 30-50 feral Wikipedians exit the building holding garlands of cut fiber, they start coughing blood. By the end of the week, not one of them remains alive, nor does anyone else.
@novalis @matdevdug
OK but what if we're talking IRL? Where the datacenter doesn't include a fully-equipped, completely automated, on-site bioengineering lab?
