This time, messing with the environment, running up the cost of electricity for everyone else, and putting people out of jobs.
Fukin' stupid.
I have found AI to be totally worthless so far.
Plain old Google is far better at finding what I am looking for.
I was working on an Excel Spreadsheet, and Microsoft's "Copilot" kept asking if it could be of help. I allowed it to look at my spreadsheet, and it came back with a bunch of meaningless info:
Totals Averages Median values etc.
Stuff that I didn't need, couldn't use. My spreadsheet already had all the details and totals that I was interested in.
Some kind of a nuisance "Helpful Harry".
Remember that irritating paperclip on wheels helper in Windows years ago, followed by "Cortina"? Nobody liked Cortina. "Copilot" is just another irritant. I keep deleting it from my Apps, and Windows keeps adding it back via updates.
Half of my servers are still on Win-10, and there are no longer any updates except for EDGE, so they no longer get bombarded with Microsoft's Windows useless garbage.
For servers with Win-11, I just periodically delete Copilot in the Apps.
Experts discover a hidden hazard from AI data centers—and people are angry
Data centers in Phoenix raised the temperature of the surrounding area by a significant amount, a new study finds.
Researchers from Arizona State University took a closer look at waste heat—the heat produced by a machine as a byproduct of doing its work—at a data center located in the Phoenix metro area.
They found that neighborhoods downwind of the data center saw their temperatures go up by up to four degrees in a city that already boasts some of the hottest temperatures in the country.
“As we do more measurements under different kinds of atmospheric conditions, I think we’re going to see more significant impacts around data centers,” study lead author David Sailor said in a press release.
As of April, the United States had more than 3,000 operational data centers with more than 1,500 in development.
According to Pew Research, most of the new ones will be located in rural settings—Pew found that 67 percent of upcoming data centers will be in rural counties.
However, 87 percent of existing data centers are located in urban settings.
According to the researchers, heat waste is often overlooked by city planners, which could have major implications, especially in cities where heat is already dangerously high in the summer.
“They’re such a concentrated load of electricity consumption and hence heat emissions that we became concerned about the impact that they could have locally, and also in the downwind neighborhoods,” Sailor said in the release.
The study author added that, “even if these data centers only contribute to an additional heat island magnitude of one degree or two degrees, that can still have a very significant impact on our lives.”
The researchers hope to partner with data center providers to reduce the problem.
“Data centers are inherently an important part of our society and they’re going to become even more necessary going forward,” Sailor said. [Mondo NOTE: Sailor is an idiot.]
‘Forced adoption’ Critics on Reddit were angry—but unsurprised—by the study’s findings.
“Building data centers in Phoenix and then being surprised they make it hotter is like building a fireplace in a sauna and wondering why it got warm,” one pundit noted.
“If there’s one thing Phoenix needs more of, it’s degrees Fahrenheit,” another person quipped.
An individual was angered by Sailor’s assertion that data centers are “an important part” of society.
“NO THEY’RE NOT,” they retorted, adding, “I’m so tired of the forced adoption and perceived inevitability of AI and of things we can obviously just say, ‘No, we don’t want or need that’ to.”
Finally, a poster on r/Phoenix remarked: “Don’t worry. Our elected officials will keep making sure they can build them here.”
A data center in Vernon, California:
This is just another example of new technology being too much for your old man brain to handle.
You and Mondo both post too many personal attacks. Mondo also adds many good thoughtful comments. I'm having trouble finding any good thoughtful non-attacking comments from you.
HOT DAMN! Best Post of the Century. KR Pwned by Admin.
Go drive your cheap Bronco until the engine freezes up.
Cheap, easy ways to offset the added heat :
Posted by Ken C on May 27, 2026, 11:39 am, in reply to "Unintended consequences of AI" Edited by board administrator May 27, 2026, 11:40 am
(Microsoft copilot wrote this for me)
✔ 1. Planting shade trees around the data center Trees can reduce local temperatures by 5–15°F. They block sunlight and cool the air through evaporation. This is the cheapest and most effective solution.
✔ 2. Painting the roof white (cool roof) A dark roof can reach 160–180°F. A white reflective roof stays around 100–120°F. This alone can cut the heat plume dramatically.
✔ 3. Adding solar panels on the roof Solar panels: • shade the roof • reduce heat absorption • generate electricity • lower the building’s cooling load This is a double win.
✔ 4. Redirecting exhaust vents upward Instead of blowing hot air sideways into neighborhoods, vents can be angled upward so heat rises and disperses. This is cheap and surprisingly effective.
✔ 5. Planting shrubs or hedges around the perimeter Vegetation walls can reduce ground‑level heat by 2–5°F and block hot air from flowing directly into streets.
✔ 6. Using evaporative cooling on the exhaust Some data centers spray a fine mist into the exhaust stream. This cools the air before it leaves the building. It’s cheap but uses water, so it depends on local regulations.
⭐ Bottom line A data center can warm a neighborhood by 1–5°F, with the strongest effect right next to the building. But the heat drops off quickly with distance. And yes — there are cheap, easy ways to offset the heat, including: • shade trees • cool roofs • solar panels • redirecting exhaust • vegetation barriers
