Oh, I don't want new data centers anywhere.
this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Same. We have more than enough compute for what we need.
If we could kill all these stupid generative AI companies and allocate that compute to actual scientific research, that’d be great, thanks.
Does this imply that 53% do want data centers or was there a "no opinion" option. Unfortunately I can't read the article due to the paywall.
There doesn't seem to be a paywall on the source the article links to. From there:
Nearly half (47%) of U.S. residents oppose the construction of an artificial intelligence data center in their neighborhood, while 38% support it.
That seems to leave 15% "no opinion".
Gen Zers (48%) and millennials (50%) are more likely than Gen Xers (38%) and baby boomers (22%) to support data centers in their backyard.
Broken down by political preference, roughly half (49%) of Republicans support the construction of an AI data center in their neighborhood, compared with 36% of Democrats.
who's going to blame the boomers now?
I'm wondering why younger generation supports it. Are they thinking it will create jobs (it won't, very few people are need to operate a data center) or it is some other reason?
I only see drawbacks, like higher energy bills, higher water bills, typically an ugly windowless building.
With the AI trend there might be some coal power plant kicked off that pollutes the neighborhood like musk does in Tennessee.
And apparently the noise is relentless and mind-breaking.
I've been in a data center and yes the noise is quite loud from all the fans in servers and AC running, but it is just inside.
I am by no means an expert but I think most of the noise pollution coming from data centers is outside of the perceptible range for humans.
This video breaks down infrasound rather well and demonstrates the issues it can pose for people living miles away from the source. This could also have several unstudied consequences for wildlife as well.
They don’t own homes, so they are likely less protective of what is built near them.
(Obviously many of them do, but statistically they are less likely)
Admittedly most also don't want many social services, below market housing etc near them either...
I wonder how this compares to the percentages of people that want construction of any kind near their homes.
Oooh, interesting! I'd bet pretty closely given the low-ish percentage but I'm not sure of any survey that asks so explicitly (nor am I sure respondents would be honest/accurate about construction "of any kind".)
At least they’re justified in not wanting data centers near them, the other stuff is just straight up poor people hatred. Opening another fracking site or oil well pump might be a better comparison.
The point is that whether Americans want more or less of something near them is a very bad metric for judging something.
Those are rookie numbers gotta get that shit up.