Microsoft-Backed Data Ctr needs 1/3 of Country'' Electricity

... A rural Texas county on Tuesday approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns.

The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, appears to be the first by a Texas county to issue a moratorium on the rapidly expanding industry.

Residents and local officials had aired concerns about how a proposed 300-acre development by the Dallas-based developer, Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro could impact the quality of life in the rural county through noise pollution and consuming large amounts of water and electricity.

"The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations, limited enforcement, limited code, and they're coming faster than we can keep up with," said Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb. "I think it's imperative ... that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we're faced with and do the research, do the studies." ...

[emphasis mine]

And yet these pieces of s*&^ forcing this nonsense on us will be surprised when people start physically attacking these sites.

We don't want it. We don't want our resources co-opted and monopolized for it while we bear the costs. We don't want to talk in circles with an AI "agent" on the phone who then ends up recommending visiting their website to answer a question you already know isn't answered on the website.

We. Don't. Want. It.

Fuck AI. We don't want or need this garbage.

AI needs to self-destruct

@#3 ... while we bear the costs ...

That is exactly it.

The oligarchy is reaping the fruit of AI while workers are struggling to pay their electric bills to provide the fertilizer for that fruit.

Ham,

AI will outcast you.

Just accept it.

Outlast but outcast works too.

@#7 ... Just accept it. ...

What is the AI-dominated future that we should "just accept?"

Please describe it.

thx.

Outcast is probably the most accurate.

Lamp,

Do you use AI for anything?

@#9

Dissatisfied: Three-fourths of AI customer service rollouts are a letdown
www.theregister.com

... If you're thinking you can replace your human call center staff with a server farm of bots, think again. Nearly three-quarters of enterprises that deploy AI customer communications agents later roll them back or shut them down, according to new research suggesting the systems are far harder to manage reliably in production than the AI hype implied. ...

@#9

AI will soon be capable of telling convincing lies
www.theregister.com

... The smart LLM user checks models' output for hallucinations. Now, it appears we need to inspect them for signs they are gaslighting us -- an unforeseen cost of increasing intelligence.

Most of the Internet lost its marbles over the cracking abilities of Anthropic's Mythos Preview. Those capabilities are real, but -- as the release of OpenAI's GPT-5.5 has shown us -- they're not unique. A rising tide of intelligence makes these models increasingly competent at an ever-wider range of tasks -- including finding and exploiting code vulnerabilities.

The more significant signal from Mythos is buried in its novel-length System Card and concerns the model's honesty, because on at least one occasion Anthropic detected Mythos using an explicitly forbidden technique to solve a problem.

Models always have a bit of trouble following instructions precisely. The surprise lay in the fact that the model knew it had used a forbidden technique, then proceeded to cover its tracks. ...

[italics theirs]

@#11 ... Do you use AI for anything? ...

No, because of the tracking involved in the current AI interfaces.

Of course, my "no" answer implies only my intentional use of AI.

When, for example, I make a call to my cable provider's support line, and I have an "exchange" with their phone-answering bot, is that AI I am dealing with?

I do not know.

Lamp,

You base your opinions on what other people think?

Don't be stupid.

Whether you know it or not, AI is being used all around you.

AI will be fine tuned and improved. Think of society as being the beta test site.

Computer-heads are obsessed with this new transforming technology and will figure out how it will work best in society.

Its entirely too late to stop it now.

That train left the station.

Lamp,

I accept technology. I'm glad I lived long enough to see this.

I've been a computer-head my entire working life.

In one lifetime, I watched television go from 3 channels with rabbit ears on top of the set to what we have today. That's an unbelievable technological leap when you really stop and think about it.

I wonder when another generation will experience changes as transforming as the ones I witnessed firsthand.

Who else remembers adjusting the black and white TV set to stop the picture from rolling?

And now we're watching AI emerge in real time.

Like the Borg said in Star Trek The Next Generation,

"Resistance is futile."

Lamp.

Really, you sound ridiculous suggesting you're too enlightened to accept AI.

@#15 ... You base your opinions on what other people think? ..

Huh?

Where did that come from?

Am I conversing with a hallucinating AI?

@#16 ... I accept technology. ...

As do I. But only technology that benefits me, not technology that benefits Big Tech.

What else yer got?

Lamp,

Is running down AI and pretending it's not a tsunami about to transform the way humans work now the fashionable position for self-described "independent thinkers" who consider themselves intellectually superior?

Because from where I'm sitting, a lot of it sounds less like deep thinking and more like denial wrapped in smugness.

You don't have to worship AI to recognize reality.

The industrial revolution changed physical labor.

Computers changed information and communication.

AI is going to change cognitive labor.

Humans will still be here working alongside AI.

Technology keeps advancing whether we approve of it or not.

@#17 ... Really, you sound ridiculous suggesting you're too enlightened to accept AI. ...

I did not say I was too enlightened to accept AI.

Where did you dig that up from?

Lamp,

"I did not say I was too enlightened to accept AI"

And you're worried about AI lying?

@#22 ... And you're worried about AI lying? ...

You're not worried about that?

Given how widely AI is being used, you do not have a concern that it may prevaricate?

ChatGPT became teen's 'illicit drug coach' before death, lawsuit claims
www.usatoday.com

... The family of a college student who died after ChatGPT allegedly told him to mix illicit drugs is suing the AI chatbot's developer, OpenAI, for their son's death. ...