DAIR Director of Research Alex Hanna discusses data center water consumption, citing reporting and legal action involving Google's hyperscale facility in Oregon.
“That is kind of pre AI in which we're focusing on the development of Google's hyperscaling And it wasn't until the Oregonians sued the city that we knew that half of the water consumption in the city was going to Google's data center.”
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More from Alex Hanna
AssertionSupported
Hanna says xAI uses methane generators to power its Memphis supercomputer
“I would also say that speaking about existing effects, there's also a lot of reporting coming out of Memphis right now, especially around the methane generators that XAI has been using to power a particular supercomputer there called Colossus there, and specif…”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 5:54AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Hanna: Employers cut jobs overestimating AI proficiency
“And I think we've already seen such a justification for this as being a place where employers have been Reducing positions by the scores, because there's a notion that these tools can do these jobs suitably and to a certain kind of degree of proficiency, which…”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 55:57AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
Opinion
Hanna argues USMLE scores do not prove Med-PaLM is ready for medicine
“When we get something where you have something like MedPalm II or MedPalm I and II being measured on the US medical licensing exam, that's not really a test that determines whether one is sufficient, you know, is prepared to be a medical practitioner. There's …”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 15:44AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
Insight
Hanna: People Lack Knowledge to Verify Chatbots Outside Their Specialties
“Once it gets into those areas in which verifiability just escapes me, which is most areas, because we're not professionals in most areas, and although a lot of us want to be jacks of all trades, jacks and jills of all trades, then we lose that ability, and we …”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 35:54AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
PredictionNot checkable as stated
Hanna: AI efficiency gains will increase doctor appointment pressure, not ease workloads
“And these efficiency gains from doctors isn't going to, like, Make their jobs necessarily easier. It's going to put more of a pressure on them. Not that you're in a position where you don't have to take medical notes. You're going to be running from position t…”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 44:21AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
Insight
Hanna: Verifying AI transcription is not easier than transcribing directly
“Is verification an easier task than transcription? I guess that's my question. I would proffer no.”
Alex HannaMay 14, 2025▶ 49:23AI’s Drawbacks: Environmental Damage, Bad Benchmarks, Outsourcing Thinking
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