Artificial Intelligence1 min read

Less Popular Than Coal

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Recent election outcomes revealed that nearly fifty separate ballot measures aimed at curbing the development of artificial intelligence facilities were tracking toward passage across the country. Opposition to these sites proved politically potent, even anchoring Gina Hinojosa's historic victory as the first Democratic governor of Texas in over three decades. Voters expressed distinct hostility toward facilities that generate extreme noise, consume massive footprints, and offer minimal job creation. This local resistance aligns with summer polling indicating that citizens would rather reside near a coal plant than a server hub.

Key points

  • Community hostility is intensifying because the massive facilities create few jobs while…: Community hostility is intensifying because the massive facilities create few jobs while driving up local noise levels and power demands.
  • Public dissatisfaction reflects broad anxiety surrounding workforce displacement, felonio…: Public dissatisfaction reflects broad anxiety surrounding workforce displacement, felonious summer cybercrimes, and warnings of existential peril from tech insiders.
  • Technology executives endorsing the incoming administration face growing political backla…: Technology executives endorsing the incoming administration face growing political backlash that is translating directly into restrictive local policy decisions.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Hi there, argmin readers! Today’s post is a late and brief reaction to a tiny subplot of yesterday’s historic election: the widespread rejection of AI datacenters. It was inspired by an insightful Dan Davies thread on bluesky that I have been unable to get out of my head.

Elections are a muddled measurement of “public opinion,” but they’re probably the only real measurement we get. And with every surprising measurement, a good rational agent must reflect on its beliefs. So what should we passive rational observers make of this historically large swing towards the Democratic Party in yesterday’s vote?

Obviously, this is a major repudiation of Donald Trump, his policies, and the Republican Party. However, you readers probably don’t come here for my political takes, and I don’t want to use this Substack for them anyway. Even if it wasn’t the biggest issue on the ballot, something closer to home is worth pondering. The American people are loud and clear that they hate AI.

Nearly fifty measures explicitly about building data centers appeared on ballots across the nation. All of…

Artificial Intelligence