Show Notes
In a special Q&A episode of Cut Through, Rachel puts your questions to long-time Crikey contributors, climate analyst Ketan Joshi and Dr Ben Eltham, about the unfortunate topic de jour: the rapid proliferation of data centres. What are they? Do we actually need them? And what is the benefit — if any — of having them operate on Australian soil?
Plus, the AI wins we’ve had so far, and how this is a critical time in the battle against the normalisation of energy-guzzling, slop-producing data warehouses.
Today’s episode covers: What exactly is a data centre and do we need them? Artificial intelligence, energy use and personal responsibility Does Australia actually benefit from housing data centres? “Sovereignty-washing” and the lie of frontier models How the rest of the world is dealing with data centres The best-case scenario
Read the transcript here, watch or listen to the episode above. Want to ask us a question? Send an email to [email protected] or contact us using the secure methods detailed here.
Read more: Canberra is ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’ on AI. Where will it take us? Doomsday AI cultists aren’t just good marketers — they’re capturing governments What Ireland’s cautionary tale on data centres can teach Australia NVIDIA’S AI Climate hoax
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