This turned out pretty well on the first try. Image added since preview not showing #aiart
Why build data centers with so many abandoned factories perfect for the job?
Funny, there seems to be a push to build data centers when the federal government has identified 335 specific, large-scale brownfields and Superfund sites that are ideal candidates for retrofitting into sprawling AI and data center campuses. And the U.S. has over 450,000 “brownfield” sites, abandoned or underutilized industrial and commercial properties where redevelopment is complicated by past contamination. Faster to come online, cheaper construction costs, infrastructure already wired for them, and those communities probably already have people familiar with the sites wanting to go back. Makes you wonder what money is changing hands to make building new sites, especially in the hottest areas of the country, seem like a good idea.
The Decision Criteria: Why Old Factories Work Not every abandoned factory is a viable data center. Developers look for specific conditions when evaluating adaptive reuse:
Grid Connection: Proximity to high-voltage transmission lines or existing substations is critical, as powering AI racks requires massive amounts of electricity.
Footprint and Zoning: The site must have sufficient contiguous acreage for server warehouses and cooling facilities and be located in a municipality that zones the land for industrial use.
Brownfield Status: Federal initiatives, such as EPA guidelines and incentives for Superfund and Brownfield sites, make repurposing tax-advantaged and legally streamlined.
When I hear the ‘jobs equals worth’ argument against AI, I wonder what those people think of stay-at-home parents, artists, and others who derive more value from their passions than from doing disliked work just to survive.
My response to Matt Davis’s post about how AI is gutting developer jobs in the private sector. It is doing similar to government jobs.
Just had a weird "recruiter email" supposedly for a job at Infosys that makes wonder if Infosys got hacked.
The Gmail address it came to I use only for things like alerts, so that is odd enough, but the job is on-site in Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; or Raleigh, NC, so the sender clearly knows nothing about me other than this email and that I have Java experience. They even asked if I’d worked for Infosys before and whether I have Work Authorization, and didn’t suggest Austin, Texas, which was within driving distance of where I used to live. What made me think Infosys might have been hacked was the email from Brass Ring requesting that I forward info to sowmyashree.2127460@infosys.com. That can’t be a real email address, can it? If it is, Infosys really needs to up its recruiting game. Who relocates these days? If you are so behind that you don’t have WFH, then hire local. The cost of moving a family is extremely high and very painful. It just makes no sense. If it’s a scam, they must have access to Infosys' email system. I guess the third option is that Brass Ring is sending out emails to random addresses with made-up contact email addresses to try to get people to visit their site. Seems unlikely though.
In the best case, it was spam, so I reported it and blocked the sender since I’m not looking for a job. Especially with a recruiter this clueless.
Maybe jobs will become artisanal as AI takes over, according to this article. What will be scarce?
I need one of these avatars for all the meetings that ought to be emails. Meta Building AI Avatar of Zuckerberg for Employees
Futurism: Companies Just Learned a Brutal Lesson About Training AI to Do Human Jobs
“hiring desperate job-seekers to train AI models to do the work they can’t get hired for anymore” highlights the main issue: laying people off before AI can take up the slack. This will be the main cause of AI’s failure to deliver ROI, and companies and agencies will seriously damage their reputations.
Companies Just Learned a Brutal Lesson About Training AI to Do Human Jobs
OpenAI sets out a plan for how we should migrate to an AI powered world. Industrial policy for the Intelligence Age
Trying to sort out why this is needed, given the federal I-9 form requirement. Texans face new licensing rules requiring US work authorization, sparking fear among professionals
The “gainfully employed robots” model I keep hearing about seems to miss the mark. People are not going to send their robots off to work for them when the company can buy the robots. Uber Co-Founder Kalanick Launches Atoms in Specialized Robotics Push Atoms site
Can’t help but wonder when gas prices will make commuting to work unaffordable for all those living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover a minor emergency. Rising food and gas costs must be pushing them over the edge.
They are blaming the shutdown, but similar chaos is occurring in other agencies more directly involved in the DOGE fallout. FEMA Tool Contract Renewal Delayed; $200K Deal Awaits DHS Approval
U.S. payrolls unexpectedly fell by 92,000 in February; unemployment rate rises to 4.4% one of the highest rates since 2021.
Let’s get #DOGED2Death trending in support of all the federal workers and contractors being required to prove, yet again this month, they can not take on even more of their coworkers' jobs ahead of the next purge. Post your experiences with the DOGE chaos. Be it burnout or wait times.
Everyone ought to watch the Oversight Committee Democrats' videos of How DOGE & Trump Damaged Federal Workers
In case you missed it or thought this wouldn’t go through, it is moving forward today. Here is Trump’s union-busting Executive Order 14251.
On the flip side Spirit Airlines Cancels 250+ Flights Amid Crew Shortage