WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE UK uk United Kingdom - news journal UPDATE - (en) UK, ACG, Jackdaw #24 - The Threat from AI (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a catch all term for a number of technologies. They are mainly concerned with robots replacing human labour, and data gathering via Data Centres (DCs). These Data Centres are spreading across the UK. It is estimated that another one hundred will be needed over the next few years. These DCs are different from the ones that are used to store are photos, social media accounts and work applications. Without going into the technical details they are unimaginably massive! DCs already need huge amounts of electricity to power them and are similarly greedy with the water they need for cooling, boosting climate change. Ireland already hosts many Data Centres which consume 21% of Ireland's electricity. West London is also suffering an electricity shortage thanks to them. The situation will get much worse as DCs to service AI are expanded. Each of the planned DCs will need 500 mw of electricity. This could be used to power 2 million homes! The attraction for the ruling class lies in their potential to replace a lot of jobs, decreasing costs and increasing their control and profits. They are also a global stock market bubble that is being massively invested in by tech companies and governments. When the bubble bursts - as they always do - the bosses will try to impose further austerity on us so we pay for their losses.

Starmer's recently trumpeted $31 billion 'prosperity deal' with the U.S government ($22 billion pledged from Microsoft, and $5B from Google) is to build Data Centres and the infrastructure to power them, such as mini-nuclear power stations to provide the electricity they need. At the time of writing the U.S. has put the deal on hold over trade disagreements. Although it was touted as 'great for Britain' the main beneficiaries will be U.S capital. Each data centre built in the North-East England 'growth zone' will employ only 15-20 people when built, meaning a few hundred jobs rather than the 5000 promised.
AI is mainly used to replace human labour, resulting in unemployment and deskilled jobs, such as warehouses and call centres. It takes away the creativity of human beings whether it be in design, art or writing. AI is used by governments, big tech, and right-wing populist parties to monitor and control people, who are manipulated via misinformation, such as altered images and algorithms.
We need technologies that extend people's capabilities, and that can be controlled by the community. AI does not fit the bill. Very few people understand how it works, leaving us in the hands of the corporations that control AI. In addition, the huge amount of energy and water required for AI, via the DCs, means that it is incompatible with addressing climate change.
We want to see a future society with a better quality of life for all, and a reversal of global warming and loss of biodiversity. This society needs to be under our control, not corporations, technocrats and politicians. It is difficult to see how AI is going to contribute to this vision.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/jackdaw24_low-res-1.pdf
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Link: (en) UK, ACG, Jackdaw #24 - The Threat from AI (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca