What about the Data Centres?

[nomadpete]

It's time we discussed this issue.

Although there is a rumbling in the media, there is little factual background.

 

Do we need them? 

 

If so, why, and what is the cost/benefit analysis.

 

Is there a power supply problem?

 

If so, what is the plan to mitigate it.

 

Is there a cooling/heat/water problem?

 

If so, what is the plan for mitigation.

[old man emu]

Good questions, but I think the fiorst to be answwered is: Who owns them?

 

It seems to me that they are owned by a couple of American super companies. What happens if the US empire collapses? Already Europe is creating it own digital monetery transfer system that will reduce reliance on Visa and Master Card. What would happen to global communication if the US companies collapse? Tjhe world is so integrated into the Internet that one can hardly do anything without interacting with it.

 

That's my possible red herring thrown into the discussion, but would the next person deal with Nomad's points, please?

[facthunter]

It's every Australians right to KNOW al about these contentious DATA centres and their Ginomouse energy requirements. Nev

[nomadpete]

Yes, I forgot the most important question....

 

WHO PAYS for this infrastructure, and who owns it, and who pays its maintenance and who pays for constant upgrades.

[Jerry_Atrick]

As with everything, ultimately the consumer and more broadly, the general population ends up carrying the costs

[Litespeed]

one thing for sure..they wont declare any taxable income for the work processed, magically they will all run at a loss.

[nomadpete]

2 hours ago, Litespeed said:

magically they will all run at a loss.

Whilst paying the CEO's million$ per annum

[Jerry_Atrick]

Think of all that GST they can reclaim without a penny of revenue?

[nomadpete]

Gee thanks brains trust.

 

I was hoping somebody, anybody, might have heard/read/seen some useful info. Maybe there isn't anything out there.

 

So..... it's like the war of Iran.... there is no plan.

 

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by nomadpete

[Marty_d]

State and local governments are racing to entice data centres without any thought for the environment, or power costs for the rest of the population for that matter.

Because a few dollars in rates and a couple of security guard jobs are far more important than all the downsides.

[old man emu]

On 26/08/2026 at 9:27 AM, nomadpete said:

Do we need them?

Another two-edged sword, perhaps? It is clear that the use of AI in problem solving which produces beneficial results for Mankind is the good side, but most of the population is being flooded with slop that does nothing to benefit Mankind, only to benefit snake oil merchants.

On 26/08/2026 at 9:27 AM, nomadpete said:

Is there a power supply problem?

It is pretty clear that these data centres consume electricity at phenominal rates. Rates that the present generating system cannot match without depriving other users of electricty of that power. Some of these data cenres have had to install jet turbine powered generating units to meet demand in areas where the established grid cannot meet all the demands on it.

On 26/08/2026 at 9:27 AM, nomadpete said:

Is there a cooling/heat/water problem?

Definitely. Electrical circuits produce heat. When you have stacks of server units in a building, their combined heat generation becomes a problem because too much heat causes failures in the circuitry. We know about cooling problems with nuclear power stations, and I suppose we should recognise the heat associated with those generating units that burn stuff to create steam - and the steam releases heat, too, when it has been used.

 

Another hearalded benefit is employment. That's a crock. The only time there is massive employment is during construction. Once the centre is built, only a handful of people is required to monitor the running and attend to maintenance needs. Just look at the large infrastructure projects arond the place. As soon as they are completed, the workforce moves on. In fact, most of that workforce has arrived in an area solely to do the work. Few locals gain from these projects.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Another unanswered question....

 

Are 'data centres' just big server centres needed to cope with the enormous increase in internet traffic?

 

Sure, a A.I. request from me is not much traffic, but does the A.I. server then propagate a lot of worldwide traffic searching before it compiles it's answer?

[facthunter]

How is DATA verified? If it isn't , what use is it? Why would we need so many centres anyhow? Justify?  Nev

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

How is DATA verified?

I's not 'data' in the sense of the sort answers your get if you carried out a number of tests or experiments and then analysed that data to see if it enabled you to predict a future event. AI, in one of its applications can do that, but what the Common Man sees is the results of loading an AI program with massive amounts of existing published stuff and then when AI is asked a question, it searches all that stuff to recall what it hs been fed. It will produce the results, but it is up to the human who asked the question to examine what has been provided and see it it makes sense, i.e. to verify the response.

 

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

Why would we need so many centres anyhow?

Because there is so much information floating around the Internet. Just consider how much information a lot of people have in the form of photographs on their mobiles. Even this site has masses of information that AI could possible access and add to its store of information.