> If you are asking “Why should I support AI efforts at all?” I believe we are in the midst of a transition more vibrant than the industrial revolution. Opinions formed a couple of years ago about the uselessness of AI are no longer valid. Millions of people and organizations are getting great returns from using it, and the demand for data centers is the market responding to the value signal. That is how progress is made!

Seems like a sort of shallow argument. The industrial revolution also had these same sorts of problems. Few are going to be enthused about living next to a dirty coal power plant either.

It's rational for people push back against projects that create problems for them, with no compensating upside.

Compaing AI datacenters (which haven't proved to benefit most people, especially the ones near such DC) to nuclear is a really dumb analogy.

>I consider it a tragedy that anti-nuclear efforts largely strangled nuclear power in the US based on vibes

This is not a strong analogy in support of AI data centers. Power utilities are heavily-regulated with controls over impact, public access, and ratemaking. There are none of those public benefit controls in place for data centers. Defending AI economics because opposition is 'vibes' is ludicrously one-sided.

For convenience: https://xcancel.com/i/status/2069486595917402117