The SpartanNerd hasn’t been one to protest historically. But when they are building a hyper-scale AI Data Centers a mile from his house…a data center that the community didn’t approve of and didn’t want…but the county council allowed to pass in under the radar…here is a reason to protest. I have attended two of these outdoor walk-around-with-a-sign events and also a “town hall” that seemed to be lip service only…voices were not heard. I have found a real mix of political differences, etc. But none of us want this. It is truly bipartisan…actually multi-partisan when you talk to these people. Everyone is concerned about multiple problems that will come up. So with a little help from my friends…

NO DATA CENTER IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY

We didn’t ask for it or want it. The old “Kohler” plant…yes it has been a useless empty building for awhile, and that is bad. BUT permits to put a large AI Data Centers here were all approved behind closed doors in county council meetings. They have not been transparent and are obviously receiving kickbacks. People did not know about it…and it seems to have been designed that way. They have clear-cut the trees all around the property, have tons of earth moving equipment there doing things…and other large equipment. Everyday an army of workers are there, including some that arrive in a retired school bus. And the police are out there directing traffic on Pine Street for this giant nuisance of an eyesore. One of my children asks a question…”Did they think about the wildlife in the nearby Croft State Park?” NOPE. It’s all about the money. (The SpartanChildren are actually adults now with VALID OPINIONS!)

COUNTY COUNCIL LIED

The Mouse King (I actually see more of a rat than a mouse) is reminding us about sins of COMMISSION and sins of OMMISSION. There is some of both going on here.

If you are not transparent to your constituents and your community, you are in fact lying. If you stand up and tell people it isn’t a data center, and behold…it is a data center…then you are an abject liar.

There is a feeling among the community members actively moving against this data center that the “elite” in Spartanburg don’t really care about us in the county. They are “detached” from it because they don’t live in the suburban/rural area we live in, and so they don’t even care about how bad it will be for our community.

AI IS EVIL

AI…not to insult your intelligence, reader…but Artificial Intelligence is showing up everywhere. I have seen these tools and been told to use them at work. It is showing up in search results without me asking…in things like Microsoft Word and even WordPress that I write this blog on. But I am frankly a lot scared about it. It turns out that basically all of us are using it whether we agree with it or not. You can’t just “turn it off” if it is baked into something like Windows or MacOS. (Have you tried a Google search lately? It feeds you an AI answer before showing you the search results.)

These convenience issues aren’t the real issue in my opinion besides the fact that it is a “tool” that is everywhere. It is that AI “regurgitates” stuff that was actually created by humans. I work in the arts. When I studied for my Masters in Music Education, I took a class about experimental music. One of the things actually invented in the 1980s was a computer that had every measure of Mozart programmed into it. It could then create new music by Mozart. This was done for several other composers like Vivaldi also. As a part of the class, I played some fake Vivaldi and some real Vivaldi for my wife to see if she could tell which was real…she couldn’t…

Nowadays we have Johnny Cash singing Barbie Girl through the power of AI. Does anyone think He would be OK with that? I’m not. BUT…It is the future we have to think of. Are our children ever going to know what real rock, country, rap, gospel, or really any kind of music is? Something like Gorillaz or K-POP Demon Hunters is already a fictitious band. AI is just another step towards removing the soul from what used to be creative activities that were exclusively human.

One of my children has another contention with AI. It is PLAGIARISM. AI could listen to SpartanNerd’s album PREACH! And then someone else could virtually use my chops. I would never know!

KNOW MORE (No Data Centers)

I haven’t heard a single positive thing about this data center. From the beginning of it happening to last weekend’s march. Do the people behind it not have anything positive to contribute? Do they know that the points I am about to make are TRUE?

Power consumption– It was said that the AI Data Center would only use 48 Megawatts. Last month the company applied for hundreds more.

Wasting water- The data center will have to be cooled using water. At one of the “town hall” meetings it was insisted that the data center would use a “closed system”…something like a car radiator uses. It was also said to use the same amount of water as a large Home Depot. This was a complete and utter lie! Already it is apparent that the area they are digging out, etc is much larger than a Home Depot or similar big box store.

This turns out to be another lie!

Noise pollution- There are going to be massive TURBINES running this data center! At first it was said to be something like 4 turbines. Now it is something like 14. Running 24/7. There is a train overpass about a mile up the road. I can hear it pretty clearly some days and times. I guess it depends on the weather, the train, and other variables. This data center is going to be pumping out noise pollution like that CONSTANTLY.

Light Pollution– I remember standing in my yard a couple of Thanksgivings ago with my brother discussing the world. It was a new moon or at least it seemed to be moonless…and the stars were so clear. You don’t have to get much closer to the city to lose that. But the data center is bringing the light pollution to us. I would like my pretty sky back, please!

What’s in a name- This company has changed the name of the project several times evidently. (It was called project Spero at one time). And these data centers are popping up all over the county, and one that the community fought has moved just down a little ways to Union county. Why do we need these things? Are they adding anything to anyone’s life? Someone might say “It is creating jobs.” Evidently not. Somewhere between 20 and 50 jobs. And the nature of what it is means that it might start with a larger number, but it will definitely streamline as AI becomes stronger so that there will be less workers needed to keep the servers and drives running. If there were good things for our communities, why aren’t the companies aggressively sharing that? I tell you why…they know it is bad. Did you know that they store spent nuclear fuel in South Carolina? It is like we aren’t valuable or something and politicians and companies just use us as a dumping ground. The brand new and sudden AI data center problem in South Carolina is the latest example.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Go to the protests. Write your congressmen or county council person. Or even better talk to them face-to-face. Show up at the marches. Go to the “town halls” and hope they aren’t just empty pageantry. VOTE! It looks like almost every County Council officeholder has voted for this thing to happen, and the community doesn’t want it. So we will vote them out! There’s also money pulling the strings if you look hard at the issues. I have made it a point not to name any real names (and I am using action figures!). But they are on Facebook. It is a large presence in the group “No AI Data Centers in Spartanburg County.” You should go there and get involved!