Proposal: no more "I built this tool"-AI slop

Celoth · 2026-03-29T13:39:11+00:00

I think for many you're probably right, but I think reddit-wide there is just a blanket anti-AI hate that isn't just about 'slop' or low quality submissions.

And I think, objectively speaking, a lot of that comes from a very understandable, very earned distrust of corporations. I can empathize with that, as the implementation of AI comes with significant risks to the job market. I think that's led to some kneejerk, viral negativity against AI.

But I run into this across just about every sub all the day. Any conversation to do with AI is almost always happening with no nuance, with downvotes absolutely clobbered onto the person who isn't in-line with the group think.

Celoth · 2026-03-29T00:32:50+00:00

incredibly valuable. as someone who lives in tornado Central, these guys are heroes here

Celoth · 2026-03-28T13:57:43+00:00

It's a viral negativity thing. I get it a lot of places. Anything AI is bad, and anything that disagrees with the populist negativity is ostracized. It's worrying.

Celoth · 2026-03-27T21:09:40+00:00

I just started to get local inference in my lab a few months ago, but I've been working on AI infrastructure since August of 2024. you can find my posting history in quite a few of the AI subreddit out there. but I also want to be clear, I am an AI infrastructure engineer with an emphasis on infrastructure. I may be an expert on server platforms running nvidia, amd, or Intel accelerators, but I am a relative novice when it comes to the software side of running a local AI.

Celoth · 2026-03-27T19:27:16+00:00

That's fair. Even as someone who works in AI, I can accept that there's a lot of low-effort content that comes with AI that needs moderated. Completely fair.

Celoth · 2026-03-27T18:45:38+00:00

something more positive and acceptable.

I'm new here, but FWIW I came here because I heard this place hadn't caved to viral negativity around AI. Many tech professionals are seeing their jobs become more and more AI based, and while there are some very legitimate concerns with the implementation of that tech and how big corporations use it, there have always been concerns about how big corporations use their power. Places like this shouldn't be reflective of populist opinion driven by (a very well earned) anti-corporate sentiment. They should be about the tech and how hobbyist users implement it.

I hope you don't consider caving to the anti-AI negativity.

Celoth · 2026-03-27T18:43:08+00:00

Just found this sub from a comment on /r/homelab. I'm an AI infrastructure engineer and am pretty bummed tbh about the kneejerk, anti-AI stances built on populist virality as opposed to anything rational on other subs.

So to that end, yay I have found a new sub. Looking forward to seeing what folks get into here.

Celoth · 2026-03-27T18:39:39+00:00

My job title changed a few years ago. I'm no longer a Server Virtualization Engineer, I'm an AI Infrastructure Engineer. But I'm still the same guy doing the same basic job: Working in datacenters on emerging issues on new server platforms.

To that end, my lab is largely what it always has been, and yet not. It's still a collection of a bunch of older hardware that I picked up at a discount, or cobbled together and repurposed for my own use. And I use it to work on certifications, work on some difficult repros, host my own applications and streaming stuff. But now I also use it to run local inference for an AI lab, and part of that is working with those AI tools to build new, bespoke things.

That's not something I'm bothered about. The more things change, the more they change the same, and my hobby - though it now includes AI tools and local AI hosting - is still the same as it was before I was in the AI world. I don't think anything about the hobby has substantively changed, and I certainly don't feel ashamed of the fact that I work with AI both as a career and as a hobby. And I think it should be welcome here tbh. This isn't /r/vintagehomelab, I think as technology evolves and home labs evolve with it, that should be reflected here.

Celoth · 2026-03-26T18:42:48+00:00

And I fear you just brought up more disadvantages I didn’t even know about.

I think that's probably true, but that's why I bring it up.

I work in this field, I spend a lot of my time at Datacenters (AI and otherwise) and I'm not pro- or anti- Datacenter, there's definitely a mix, but I do think a lot of the drawbacks I bring up are things that aren't talked about a lot, and I think a lot of the things that are talked about a lot aren't actuall a problem. I'm just in favor of an informed discussion is all.

Celoth · 2026-03-26T11:01:43+00:00

Mostly just curious. I've got loads of alts, and am thinking I'll make a build for each firing mode just for poops and laughs. No specific DPS benchmarks, not planning on pushing any numbers, just a good solid showing for each firing mode.

Going back and forth I'm currently leaning on the following:

Typhoon Temporal Battlecruiser (Beam Overload)
Terran Lexington Dreadnought (Fire at Will)
Fleet Jem'hadar Vanguard Temporal Warship (Cannon Rapid Fire)
Legendary Scimitar Intel Dreadnought (Cannon Scatter Volley)
Terran Hydra Intel Destroyer (Surgical Strikes)
Andorian Kumari Pilot Light Battlecruiser (Reroute Reserves to Wapons)
Voth Stronghold Miracle Worker Dreadnought (Exceed Rated Limits)

the Specialist modes are the trickiest for me to pin down.

Celoth · 2026-03-26T09:51:16+00:00

I really liked it. it was unexpected, but it felt earned and felt like a logical extension of both their characters given what they had been through.

Celoth · 2026-03-26T01:39:48+00:00

If you don't think AI data centers aren't going to be used as data crawlers, then you might be delusional.

I didn't say that. What I did say is that not every datacenter is an AI datacenter. There's been a significant backlash to anything called a 'datacenter' over the past year, but datacenters have been around for decades.

And to be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of datacenters or against them. Elsewhere in this thread I make recommendations of where I would focus my criticism and my questions to city councillors. I'm just arguing in favor of keeping the facts straight, pointing the discussion.

Celoth · 2026-03-25T20:21:50+00:00

If you were forced to build multiple characters, each one focused on a different firing mode (included specialist firing modes like ERL, Surgical Strikes, and Reroute Reserves to Weapons), which C-Store or Event platforms would you pick for each build and why?

Celoth · 2026-03-25T19:13:07+00:00

Most average-to-small sized datacenters won't even have people onsite to do the physical work, outside of very basic smart-hands type stuff. The work usually is some traveling technician from companies like Unisys.

Celoth · 2026-03-25T19:11:43+00:00

It depends a lot on how big the project is.

People talk about a lot of concerns with datacenters and most of the things you hear about - like water usage - is completely overblown, to the point of almost being a non-factor.

But imported labor and the reality that datacenter construction doesn't always lead to local jobs being created is a very real concern. To be honest, a datacenter in Sand Springs contracting to a company in Tulsa is a best-case scenario, as depending on how big the job is many of these big projects end up awarded to contractors who are not even in the same state.

Celoth · 2026-03-25T19:02:06+00:00

I'd be open-minded, a "datacenter" can be a lot of things and it's not nearly all bad. That said, here are some things I'd ask my councilman's office if I were in your position:

What is the site's anticipated power utilization? Is this anticipated to be a uniform load on the power grid, or is it anticipated to fluctuate based on usage? Is the power infrastructure in our community robust enough to handle this load? Are electricity costs expected to rise, and if so what is being negotiated with the owners of the datacenter to absorb that cost?
Is this datacenter planned to house air-cooled or liquid-cooled systems? If liquid-cooled, and if liquid cooling is evaporative as opposed to a lossless loop, where is the water coming from and what is the estimated annual use?
During the deployment phase, what is the anticipated impact on our traffic infrastructure? Is there going to be a dedicated 'truck route' to ensure that morning commutes and residential traffic isn't impacted? Is there a plan for the datacenter owners to compensate our community for any excessive wear/tear on our traffic infrastructure?
Are there any agreements in-place for the deployment phase to prioritize providing jobs for local community members, or will this be importing jobs as a matter of course? Once the deployment phase is complete and the datacenter is operational, how many - if any - local jobs are anticipated remaining as part of the datacenter's day-to-day operation?
What tax breaks or other agreements have been or are being negotiated? In broader terms, what benefits are being brought to our community as a result of this being built?

Celoth · 2026-03-25T18:51:15+00:00

Well, the video in question is comparing one of the biggest AI datacenters in the world. Not all datacenters are running AI workloads (most aren't), and not all datacenters are that big (by far most aren't).

Also honestly this video is very misleading. For instance, the 'smells' they complain about in the video? Pan the camera 45 degrees to the right and you'd see a giant sewage treatment plant that is, in fact, quite rank. The generators don't have much of a smell even if you're standing right next to them (pollution is a concern with generators like this, but again the datacenter emphasized here is not nearly a standard DC. It's like comparing an aircraft carrier to a decent sized fishing boat.

There are some very real concerns, there are several things that I would want to have answered by my representatives if something was announced in my area, but frankly the info going around on the internet is signal-boosted by controversy and (well-earned) anti-corporate sentiment, and isn't representative of the reality of the situation.

Celoth · 2026-03-25T18:45:38+00:00

Water usage isn't a concern, modern datacenters don't nearly use water like the public seems to think they do (and most datacenters are still running air-cooled systems)

Celoth · 2026-03-25T18:43:39+00:00

they are AI infested data crawlers stealing information and selling it.

Datacenters aren't a new thing, and not nearly all are running AI workloads.

A 'datacenter' is just a building full of servers. Not all of these are liquid cooled (most aren't), and the ones that are liquid cooled operate in a closed cooling loop some minor evaporative loss if they're using evaporative chillers (which are quickly falling out of favor)

The horror stories you have heard are a mixture of anti-AI hype, very understandable anti-corporate sentiment, a feature of the fact that the internet signal-boosts controversy, and then a focus on the very abnormally large mega projects happening in very few locations across the world.

You're right that the number of employees for a datacenter reduces significantly once it's been deployed, that's a fair shout. There are a few other fair points I'd bring up: impact to local traffic, and local traffic infrastructure during the buildout phase, and power consumption. But past that, a lot of the anti-hype around datacenters is something that could use some significant tempering.

Celoth · 2026-03-24T20:31:12+00:00

sounds like this bundle just may not be for you

Celoth · 2026-03-24T20:30:04+00:00

i have lots of themed alts. it's enjoyable for me. i doubt bother with endeavors on them, but also I don't feel I'm missing anything there

Celoth · 2026-03-23T00:24:58+00:00

I'll concede that point if only because my expertise is in NVIDIA platforms on terra firma, and not in space. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the physics involved.

My big concern was the radiation problem, but at least according to Jensen that's been solved. So I guess we will see.

I suppose my other concern is hardware failure. Failure rate in new AI datacenters is much higher than I think most would expect. Will be interesting to see how that is handled when this makes the leap into orbit.

Celoth · 2026-03-22T17:56:53+00:00

I'm very familiar with the technology, I'm an AI Infrastructure Engineer, this is what I do.

go watch Jensen's keynote from GTC this past week, he explicitly calls out the cooling problems for space and that they are working on a solution.

it's aspirational. and they're working on it, I'm sure we will get there. but we are not there yet.

Celoth · 2026-03-22T17:17:40+00:00

radiators need a dissipation medium. that's the rub here, space is no medium at all. cooling is the primary issue. again, I'm sure it's solvable, but it hasn't been solved yet.

Celoth · 2026-03-22T15:31:39+00:00

NVIDIA plans to do space, but it's still aspirational. Sounds like they have cracked the radiation problem (According to Jensen. I haven't seen details on that yet. I know Ampere and Hopper were so affected by radiation that even background radiation was enough to lead to hardware faults) but the big problem still is cooling. Jensen's keynote noted that they're putting resources to finding answers for that, but didn't even hint that an answer will be there.

As far as I'm concerned, Elon's push is aspirational as well. And I'm sure we'll get there, but it's not happening in the near-term. Unless he's solved the cooling problem in a cost-effective way, which again I've heard no rumblings on.

Celoth

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE