(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Dreaded Data Center – Questionable AI [1] ['Greg Dworkin', 'Sabrina Haake', 'Chloris Creator'] Date: 2026-07-29 What follows is, admittedly, larger in ignorance that it should be. I’ve been out of IT for a few years now, an early victim of the advent of AI (sounds good, everyone loves a victim). “A few years” as anyone in IT can tell you, is a lifetime. And things have been spinning out of control faster and faster lately (but nothing like they will be “a few years” from now). So bear with me, or better yet give me what for in comment if that pleases you. Every transaction with information technology has the same basic structure; input, compute, output. The many questions surrounding AI in my mind can be refined to these three. Question one: which component is the driving factor in huge new data centers? Are they intended to enable millions of inputs from hordes of people? Are they needed to house the enormous amount of computing such disparate queries require? Or are they necessary house the humungous amount of data needed to answer inquiries? Or all three? Inputs require network infrastructure to enable the cyber-sphere to access any data center-like structure. Limited computing power, what the AI ‘thinks’ you’re asking for or the response AI ‘thinks’ you’ll settle for, could be easily overwhelmed, creating slow response times (not that!) and skewed results. Many processing units and tons of memory would be necessary, vital. Outputs require network infrastructure too. They also require massive gobs of data, not to answer any one query but to answer any of a huge variety of queries, to be Ready Freddy. Question two: is the close association of the more notorious IP agents with the more notorious corporations and the billionaires behind them merely because AI requires deep pockets? Or does this indicate the bottom-line intent of these AI models is plausibility versus accuracy. What, AI as a manipulative instrument of the foes of integrity! Is it time for a conspiracy theory? (No, go nutjob something else somewhere else (how’s that for a verb!), pretty please). Does the timing and method of AI development reflect the bane of human enterprise these paragons of parasitism represent, it’s more important to be in charge than it is to be right? Why should this be any different? Question three: Why haven’t we heard from the smart people who designed these AI agents? Non-disclosure agreements? Fear of the wrath of big money? Wallflower Syndrome? Touting the splendor of marketed products which are the results of gazillions of coding hours are usually full of the wisdom of the backroom boys (and girls). Am I not paying close enough attention (quite possibly, and proud of it). So why does AI require more and bigger Data Centers? I suspect, in addition to the answers to the questions above, part of it also involves expense. It might just be less expensive in the long term to retire many smaller Data Centers and start over from scratch with new everything than it is to patch what currently exists and is aging fast. So to satisfy the insatiable desperation of the human AI (Addicted Internet) users, more and more infrastructure is required to give the poor junkies their daily fix. Sounds plausible. One final thought. For those of you who think AI is a threat to human ‘free will’ or a threat to national security, think again. I can’t imagine a ‘thing’ more dependent upon and therefore more likely to defend the status quo than AI. Maybe it (they) should have control of the world’s nuclear arsenals. You never know, it might be more important to AI to be right than in charge. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/29/800076609/community/the-dreaded-data-center-questionable-ai/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/