The environmental cost of datacentres is rising. Is it time to quit AI?
13d 12h ago by aussie.zone/u/arbilp3 in environment@aussie.zone from www.theguardian.com
I found this older article but I thought it's a relevant follow-up to the one I posted earlier today. Quitting AI?
There are many small ways to limit use.... People can unsubscribe from AI platforms, exclude AI results from search (for example, by adding “-AI” to the end of a search query) or avoid using it for unnecessary or energy-intensive tasks such as text-to-video prompts, or AI-generated images for celebrations or work presentations.
“Meta, Google and Microsoft have all baked [generative AI] deep into their systems,” Joshi says. “I see this all as very much part of the tactic of trying to embed these systems into society and instil dependency in a fashion similar to the growth of single-use plastics in the 1970s.”
Opting out can be a “meaningful act of resistance”, Joshi says. “It’s partly about not creating that energy demand but mostly about being part of broad collective action against [a] corrosive, harmful industry.”
I don't use chatbots, I don't use the Cloud, I don't have a smartphone, I've stopped using AI for searches. Sometime I get sucked in by AI images. Any other actions I can take? You in this community know a lot more about this tech than I do. Any advice would be welcome.
Any other actions I can take?
As with so many problems imposed by powerful groups, the effective actions we can take in response must also be group action.
Join Australian groups resisting the build of LLM data centres. Join groups pressuring Australian politicians to implement privacy laws (all LLM tech depends heavily on violating our privacy). Join groups in your professional field resisting LLMs in our workplaces. And so on.
Individual action is only a small effect, and tends to send no message (because you're effectively opting out of something, and to the extent you're successful, you're thereby not considered in any decision about you). Take positive action by joining groups that actively and loudly resist changes hostile to us.
Australia is not at the stage of the US in terms of community action re the social license of data centres. At least, I haven't found such a community group. Imo we are more apathetic here unless we are being stoked up by fossil fuel interests. Anyway, aside from my narky opinion, thank you for your thoughtful response. I am no longer in the workforce so I am relieved to say this enormous issue does not affect me as it does those whose jobs may be on the line or who are obliged to work with AI whether they want to or not. But privacy and personal agency is at risk for all of us.
What I have found is a very recent report by the Climate Council, an independent Australian NGO. The report, CLOUDED FUTURE: MANAGING THE RISKS OF THE DATA CENTRE BOOM outlines clearly a lot of issues that governments need to consider and act on. You may be interested in looking at it in case it can provide any material that can help you in your own action: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/CC-Report-Data-Centres.pdf
What is your goal?
Isn't it obvious?
No? Otherwise I wouldn't have asked
I want to opt out as much as I can from using AI and adding to its gargantuan requirements for energy and water because this affects us all in the end.
Water is no problem, especially here in Australia, we'll just build more desal plants
Energy wise I think you'd be better installing solar and a home battery
There is super strong demand here in the office for AI, especially for coding it's incredible, pretty much everyone is using it
So you saying you want to help the planet by not Googling anything is really not having the maximum impact you could
If you really wanted to actually reduce Co2 your absolute best bet:
https://tindosolar.com.au/<- Solar Panels Made in Adelaide
https://redearth.energy/gecko/<- Home Solar Batteries made in Brisbane
Because ultimately the goal is to get this:
https://openelectricity.org.au/
To 100%, and then who cares? Use as much electricity as you want, it's all renewables anyway
So what you're saying is that wasting resources is no problem at all, because we'll just build our way out of it. ...
Somehow that doesn't sound very convincing to me. So just to be safe, how about we try to sure up our resource and environmental impact before we start going ham on AI. Once we have a surplus of clean renewable energy and water, then we can consider throwing those resources at wasteful products.
Because it’s about effectiveness, you’re like the people who are on the side of the freeway waving a just stop oil sign, pissing into the wind effectively
in terms of co2 output we are tiny:
China isn’t slowing down on AI to save the planet, neither is America
And to be completely honest I would rather they built data centres here and took work away from America/China and had our co2 emissions go up because at least the labor party is committed to net zero, it’s pushing for renewables, the battery rebate is world leading, it’s underwriting renewable projects and we are seeing our co2 emissions from electricity drop
I have more faith we’ll hit net zero than America or China
So to me, I want both, more renewables and more data centres
The problem with that graph is you cannot outsource all your industry to China then claim China is responsible.
I cannot influence things I cannot influence however I have long complained about this exact thing:
https://aussie.zone/comment/22304750
And it's good to see other people agree:
The EU's New Plan to Reindustrialise Europe
Like I said, you can fantasize all you like about a future of unlimited renewable energy and clean water - but we don't have that now.
If you think it is close and easy, then we should just wait and get it. And if it is not close or not easy - then we can't really afford to be roasting the planet any more than we already are.
You're literally asking for more data centres than we currently have. i.e. more resource-draining facilities, to enable potential growth in usage of AI. If that growth is not there, then the data centres are not needed. I'd hardly call it 'pissing in the wind' to choose not to be a part of that growth. In fact, I find it really weird that you're even arguing this point. Like, why would you ever want to convince other people to use more AI? It doesn't help you if they use it. Not using it may save some resources... so what's your aim here?
you can fantasize all you like about a future of unlimited renewable energy and clean water - but we don’t have that now
and you can fantasise about everyone suddenly no longer training AI models or using AI, it ain't gonna happen
If you think it is close and easy, then we should just wait and get it
It's not close or easy but it's closer and easier than pushing some magical stop button that suddenly pauses AI usage worldwide
Google announced at I/O 2026 that its AI systems are now processing 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month, a 7x year-over-year increase, indicating massive scale and rapid adoption of AI workflows across its platforms (Search, Workspace, Gemini, etc.)
Hold on a sec, let me just get Google on the phone and tell them to hold up 😅
You’re literally asking for more data centres than we currently have. i.e. more resource-draining facilities, to enable potential growth in usage of AI
I'd like it just to satisfy current usage of AI
In fact, I find it really weird that you’re even arguing this point. Like, why would you ever want to convince other people to use more AI? It doesn’t help you if they use it. Not using it may save some resources… so what’s your aim here?
I didn't mention convincing others to use more AI because that's not required, it's insanely popular
However as mentioned before at the moment we're not even covering our own current usage of AI, neither Claude nor Mistral the two AI providers I use have data centres in Australia which means I'm adding to some other countries carbon output
I would prefer this investment in Australia, not only does it mean our carbon output is correctly pointed at us but we can continue to invest in renewables to bring that carbon output down
...and speak of the devil, I was searching for another article about data centres needing to bring their own renewable power and look at this on the front page:
AI giant chooses Australia’s first 100 pct (net) renewable grid to build country’s biggest data centre
Well done SA :)
Water is no problem, especially here in Australia, we’ll just build more desal plants
Looks around in permanent water restrictions
who has? you should build more desal plants 😁
The issue for many is that those that use AI will get work that comes out quick and, to the untrained eye, looks better. If you aren't using it then the girl that does gets the job/promotion before you do.
This sounds like personal experience. If it is, sorry to hear it. These stories have to come out though so that people are prepared to stand their ground or take some sort of action.
Datacentres just need regulations. 100% of power has to be solar , 100% of water use has to be a closed loop. The only reason why data centres waste so much is because we let them.
So what do you think we should do?
This is what the Climate Council think we need to do : https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/CC-Report-Data-Centres.pdf