Thoughts on ai 2/22/2026

I hate it. I mean really, it doesn't aid us in any meaningful way, it's a novelty and an excuse to be lazy. The argument I always hear is about the “AI that detects cancer” and yes, of course that's a wonderful technology, but also using that argument as a blanket statement for all forms of AI is ridiculous. The issue is generative ai, both chat and art.

First, it steals from artists, both from traditional art pieces, and from written works (which I feel like people have a tendency to forget).

Second, the environmental destruction is massive. It eats an insane amount of water (up to 5 million gallons per day (via https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption)), and yes, I am aware we are not at risk of running out of water, but that argument does not account for the fact that the water is being drawn from the water system in the area of the datacenter, which can cause a major shortages and pollution.

Using Ai also uses an incredible amount of electricity. Apart from the fact that we already don't use nearly enough sources of reusable energy, even without the added new immense strain of running AI datacenters, it's well known that AI datacenters drain the power grid of the areas they're built in (often impoverished communities), raising the cost of electricity by up to 267% (via https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-data-centers-electricity-prices/).

AI companies also have a horrifying tendency to try and build datacenters on any piece of undeveloped land. Including national parks, state parks, historic landmarks, impoverished communities, untouched wilderness, vital habitats, and seemingly anywhere they are able to cause harm.

In short, Ai harms artists like me (and probably you since you're on this site), and sucks the world dry like the least sexy kind of vampire. If you use Ai, stop. If you don't use Ai continue, regardless of how amusing it may seem. It just isn't worth it.