c/canada · by patatas@sh.itjust.works · 180d

After Intense Lobbying, Carney Allows Gas-Powered Data Centres in Alberta | The Walrus

https://thewalrus.ca/after-intense-lobbying-carney-allows-gas-powered-data-centres-in-alberta/

59 points · 12 comments · view on lemmy.world

12 Comments

kbal@fedia.io · 37 pts · 180d (2 replies)

Artificial intelligence may have it's weaknesses, but you've got to admit it does have some kind of strange power to drain all the human intelligence out of the minds of business and political leaders.

Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 20 pts · 180d

[ removed ]

rwrwefwef@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 180d

but you’ve got to admit it does have some kind of strange power to drain all the human intelligence out of the minds of business and political leaders.

Most useful AI application.

patatas@sh.itjust.works · 24 pts · 180d (4 replies)

"Yet this isn’t the first time that the Carney government has taken policy cues from the fossil fuel and AI sectors. This past October, the prime minister directly referenced in a speech the organization Build Canada, which is led by and associated with tech, oil, and gas billionaires."

begging people to understand that Carney is terrible on climate, and his famous Tragedy of the Horizon speech was only ever about an investment pitch, not about actually mitigating climate change

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 180d (3 replies)

I guess it depends by what you mean by "bad on" in "bad on climate".

You can dislike how he's going about it, say how he balances the issue against other things in a specific decision, but he's devoted a good chunk of his professional life to it and won't shut up about it in his book, at least to the point I've read.

patatas@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 180d (2 replies)

He's devoted his professional life to capital markets. I've read his book, watched hours of interviews and speeches. My assessment: his interest in climate is largely limited to the potential investment returns of a given action.

That's why his book is full of fanciful notions of hydrogen fuel, nuclear, carbon capture, AI, quantum computing, and cryptocurrency-based "smart contracts" ... instead of focusing on the stuff that actually works but has a low potential ROI, and/or doesn't funnel vast quantities of public money to the private sector: wind, solar, geothermal, public transit, heat pumps, public ownership, and so on.

CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 180d

Well, alright then. He does love a good hype technology for sure.

group_hug@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 180d

Cryptocurrency smart contracts? That is terribly disappointing to hear.

switcheroo@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 180d

Lobbying is bribing. Billionaires bought their way.

And at your expense.

eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 180d

This is fucking awful 😞

Just as there is going to be a global supply crisis no less!

No new AI datacenters. Anywhere.

theacharnian@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 179d

A waste of resources.

betanumerus@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 179d

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aeppelcyning@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 179d

We could build datacentres and dedicate them to academic computing - computational chemistry, thermodynamics, physics, to unlock new breakthroughs. Nope, we need to use fossil fuels to power the creation of AI slop I just scan by.

Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 180d

The Walrus was a great Dead Milkmen song.