I am asking you to read all the below data and then …. I will continue with what I want to say ….
How much power does and AI data centre need?
” … with individual facilities frequently demanding upwards of 100 megawatts (MW). Driven by the boom in generative AI training and inference, this massive energy footprint stems from exponential power density increases, hardware architectural demands, and significant cooling requirements.”
How much water does an AI data centre need?
” … an entire hyperscale facility can use up to 5 million gallons daily. While minor globally, this local draw severely strains regional watersheds.”
Will NZ have AI data centres?
” … Yes, AI data centres are currently being built and planned in New Zealand, driven by the country’s abundant renewable energy and cool climate.
Key projects and developments include:
- Datagrid “AI Factory” (Southland): Following full resource consent approval, (look up who approved it, because it was the southland councils) construction is underway on a 78,000 square-metre data centre in Makarewa, nearInvercargill. Slated for a 2028 opening, it is targeting an initial 280 megawatts of power and will feature the South Island’s first international subsea fibre-opticcable connecting directly to Australia.
- Mixed Industry Perspectives: While proponents view these builds as vital for securing New Zealand’s digital sovereignty and “exporting” renewable energy virtually, there are mixed opinions in public forums. Critics debate the environmental footprint and whether the immense power and water consumption will strain domestic resources”
The resource consents to build the $3.5 billion Datagrid AI data centre in Makarewa were approved by three local authorities: Environment Southland, the Southland District Council, and the Invercargill City Council.
Additionally, the land purchase for the development was approved by the central government’s Overseas Investment Office (OIO).
Here are the details of the governing bodies that gave the green light:
- Environment Southland:Approved the land, water, and discharge permits (such as water for cooling and emergency power generators).
- Southland District Council:Granted the main land-use and zoning resource consents for the Makarewa site.
- Overseas Investment Office (OIO):Signed off on the foreign investment and purchase of the 49-hectare rural site.
- Invercargill City Council:Granted the necessary approvals for the infrastructure and subsea cable landing connecting the campus to the coast.
And this:
At 280 megawatts, it will single-handedly increase New Zealand’s current total compute capacity by 65% when it opens in 2028. It will be the second-largest energy user in the country after Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, consuming more each year than the entire city of Wellington. It’s permitted to draw up to 220 million litres of groundwater per year – roughly equivalent to seven Southland dairy farms. It will also destroy a nearby wetland (which Environment Southland says is of “very low ecological value”) and is likely to disturb native marine species at Ōreti Beach when it is connected to a new undersea cable.
Datagrid is majority-owned by Remi Galasso, a French-born tech entrepreneur, and is expected to create 1,200 short-term jobs during the construction phase, as well as requiring an ongoing staff of 50 people. The company has signed a 15-year agreement with Mercury to supply 140mw of power per year, about half of what the data centre requires. ….(My note: Yes, it will only result in 50 jobs once built, the building of it all will provide short term jobs but after that … job losses and only 50 people employed.)
If there are droughts… who do you think is going to get priority on that water usage? You and I? Farmers? No. Not us, not any of us … the priority will go this these Data Centres. And when there is storm and power lines come down and power supplies get cut off and have to be fixed, who will get fixed and reconnected first? Yep, the datacentres, not you and I, not the people, just the technology.
Now back to my point … my rant … my passionate plea!!
STOP USING AI.
STOP!
We did not have AI invading our lives before, and we did not need it, and we still do not need it. We contain all of the knowledge of the cosmos, in our cells, in our DNA, in our Soul, and to throw that truth in the garbage bin and deny our own potential and turn to AI rather than ourselves? That is insanity. To throw away our innate creativity, our questioning nature, our desire to understand, and hand that ALL to AI so AI can TELL us what to believe and regurgitate stolen art, images, information, stories. Insanity. To END the creativity of the human species? Insanity.
AI has been and IS a massive con job, a massive betrayal. It is designed purely to make a handful of people incredibly wealthy, and they have sold it to people on the basis of ‘freeing people up from menial jobs’ (translation: you will lose your job), and encourage creativity (translation: be creative but you won’t have a job or money so you won’t be able to), and to do your homework for you, your thinking for you, you answers for you, your computer coding for you, design your art, music, websites, (translation: put thousands out of jobs, musicians, artist, poets, writer, sculptors, graphic designers). And all the info that AI is using to do all it does was TAKEN without permission. Global scale theft.
AI is not here to help you, it is here to con you with little toys, like making a likeness of you in a forest, or a compilation cats, a video of dogs dancing, of making a video of a cat wearing a suit drinking a beer, ofdogs laughing, of fake recipes .. and you think it’s great, you think it’s fun, you can’t get enough of it. You have been offered a handful of lollies and you love it and you want more! And every single time you use AI you feed its growth and you support it, you build the demand for it. YOUR USE OF AI is DEMANDING the building of database centres. YOU are the cause.
When there is a drought and you have no water, when there are no fresh vegetables because the crop fails because there was no water, when the unemployment is in double figures and crime has increased exponentially because so many people have lost their jobs, and when those that always stood to benefit from AI are trillionaires and living in luxury with abundant food and water (because they bought up land with springs and bought up farms to make sure they were okay) WILL YOU REALISE YOUR ACTIONS CONTRIBUTED??
You CANNOT protest about the database centres if YOU are USING AI!!! You cannot complain about global warming when you are using AI which contributes to the problem massively! You cannot protest the water drain in order for these database centres to run if YOU are using AI!
You CANNOT claim to care about the world if YOU are using AI! I have seen so many people plastering images all over social media that is AI generated, and some using words that are AI generated … and you stun me! You absolutely stun me! Don’t you care? Don’t you get it? Do you not understand what is happening?
The creators of AI offered you candies, lured you, got you hooked … and now, like addicts, you are oblivious of the damage being done.
STOP USING AI.
STOP RIGHT NOW.
We need people to have jobs. We need to create a community in which we collaborate, inspire, work together, build something amazing, share recipes, seeds, baking, smiles, friendship, to encourage ideas and art, music and poetry. AI is not needed. ALL that it contains has come from humans, all the stolen words it has been fed are from humans. We need our communities to be strong together, I want musicians to sing from their hearts so that we can feel the passion of their songs, not some heartless soulless mimicry from AI. I want all people to be able to have a job, and for the handicapped to have the opportunity to work no matter how menial their jobs may seem to others. A job is a job, and we should not be replaced and cast aside so a handful to people can get rich. For all the jobs AI takes wages disappear, and tax from wages disappears. Where is the money coming from to pay the unemployment benefits as the number of unemployed skyrockets?
If you are using AI you are part of the problem. ANYONE using AI is part of the problem. All of our actions and choices have consequences. If you care about this world you need to STOP using AI. We need to make a choice and stand by it. Together our voice is louder!
STOP USING AI.
For the sake of us all. STOP.
Please.
Let us rebuild our communities. Let us come together and support each other.