What to Know
Every time someone asks ChatGPT to generate an image based on their prompt, we lose drinking water somewhere in the world. Alright, maybe that’s not exactly how it works from a scientific standpoint, but plenty of people, and activist groups, are against the idea of AI and data centers across the United States for that reason and more.
Now, in a video posted on TikTok, a woman shares a constant, steady noise that comes out of a data center in Michigan that all of the residential homes in the area can hear. And it never stops. The electricity used, and the amount of water needed, to run these sorts of data farms that are also being placed where people live, has caused plenty of issues locally where data centers are placed. And the high-pitched noise coming from the one in Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Michigan data center is located directly across the street from residential homes.
@ayathetigress Hyperscale Data Inc. recently announced they plan a substantial expansion of the facility. Multiple residents have sued over the sound emissions. #kalamazoo #dowagiac #michigan #datacenters ♬ original sound – Aya🌸
It doesn’t tackle a scientist (or, you know, an AI engineer) to figure out that living in close proximity to a data center can’t be good for the overall health of nearby residents. Even so, they are popping up all over the country. Even when cities vote against the implementation of these centers, they get blowback, much like the small town of Perry Village, Ohio.
For the TikTok video of the data center in Michigan, the user who posted the video wrote on the screen, “This is the sound emitted 24/7 from a 30 megawatt data center in Dowagiac, MI measured from a homeowner’s porch.” They hold a decibel meter in their hand. It reads out, in real time, as high as 65.9.
According to Real Sound Meter, 85 decibels is when hearing damage can occur due to prolonged exposure to the noise. Per the Hearing Health Foundation, decimals above 70 can cause hearing damage over time. That means, technically, 65.9 isn’t immediately detrimental to the health of those nearby. But it also doesn’t sound great, literally and figuratively.
People have shared concerns about its placement with children and babies in the area.
In the comments under the TikTok, users asked how it isn’t illegal for a data center to have this kind of constant noise emitting from the campus so close to where people of all ages live. Someone even questioned if it might cause damage to babies and children over time.
“Think of infants and young children having to listen to this as their brain is developing,” a user wrote.
Someone responded to that comment with, “And their parents can’t afford to move them away because the house’s value is in the toilet now. They’re essentially stuck there now. Absolutely horrible and my heart goes out to all of them stuck in this situation.”
“I’d file lawsuits now,” another person suggested. “There are legal levels of noise pollution that this clearly is above. They should be liable for any future hearing damage of the area surrounding these centers.”
Others pointed out how data centers could choose to do things in a safer and less pollution-laden way.
As one TikTok user put it in the comments, “Mind you, they could have dampened that basically fully but chose not to because nobody was making them do it and it’s cheaper to just not.”
Hyperscale Data Inc. has other locations in the U.S.
The data center in the TikTok, Hyperscale Data Inc., has other locations in the country for the same purpose. It is headquartered in Las Vegas, with another data center in Montana. According to DataCenters.com, the Michigan location was chosen because of its possibility for expansion in the area. For now, it looks like the locals are stuck with this campus as it potentially grows.
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