> Its power is not democratized, it is concentrated in the hands of those building the data centers. That is why I'm against the data centers

If you really believe this (and I’m not saying I don’t, I just don’t have confidence in it), blocking domestic. datacenters doesn’t preserve that labour value. It just ensures whoever builds those datacenters controls production from afar.

Like, if AI really replaces human labour, does Africa and Europe having few AI datacenters protect it from America and China? Of course not. Not outside a symbolic level that even then would have to exist with the implied consent of the powers who produce.

▲

tadfisher an hour ago | parent [-]

Sorry, do Memphis residents get to control xAI's production? I think we're already in this situation.

▲

JumpCrisscross an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> we're already in this situation

xAI’s datacenters aren’t currently measurably replacing labour. So no, we’re not. If AI becomes economically competitive with broad sections of human labor, those who control it do have the power to replace humans.

But banning domestic datacenters doesn’t stop them from existing; it just stops them from existing here. If that precondition arises, that’s just a recipe for domestic deindustrialisation.

If you believe AI will replace human labor, blocking datacenters is silly. You want labor (or the public) to build and control them. I’m not convinced AI will replace labor, so I’m not yet at that step.

	▲	fc417fc802 10 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I think the point being made regarding xAI was that even if the datacenter is local that doesn't necessarily result in any meaningful difference. In other words, having more AI datacenters under your jurisdiction might or might not provide a meaningful ability to regulate in a way that shapes the impact of AI on the economy. (I do agree with you that it's almost certainly a good idea to have them though.)

▲

ben_w 38 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Fleet Street in London used to print all the UK newspapers. They had unions who resisted automation.

In the 80s, Rupert Murdoch built, in secret, a new fully computerised printing plant built in Wapping.

The workers went on strike, so he fired them. Didn't even lose a single day of output*:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapping_dispute

That is what you should fear from AI. Not the data centres themselves, that we could all be fired and the rich lose nothing as a result.

* [citation needed] :P

	▲	JumpCrisscross 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> That is what you should fear from AI. Not the data centres themselves, that we could all be fired and the rich lose nothing as a result Sure. But what would have been better for the Fleet Street workers. The UK banning computerised printing? Or the union owning one? If AI is going to be to jobs in general as computerised printing was to newspaper printing, just blocking it doesn't make sense. That's my argument.