alt Hacker NewsTo be fair, air conditioning is considered to be a net positive by about 100% of the people that enjoy it; even if it's used in excess. Not to mention that in some climates and for some people with certain health conditions, air conditioning might even be essential.
AI is not considered to be a net positive by even close to 100% of people that encounter it. It's definitely not essential. So its impact is going to be heavily scrutinized.
Personally, I'm kind of glad to see someone of Rob Pike's stature NOT take a nuanced take on it. I think there's a lot of heavy emotion about this topic that gets buried in people trying to sound measured. This stuff IS making people angry and concerned, and those concerns are very valid, and with the amount of hype I think there needs to be voices that are emphatically saying that some of this is unacceptable.
For a second I'll not consider the fact that I believe your argument is conceptually wrong. Let's focus only on the cultural part: "net positive by about 100% of people", this is deeply US-centric. For most other people, coming in the US is preparing to being exposed to an amount of AC that causes strong discomfort. Ask every European, for instance. Moreover having a more normal temperature would be something people adapt in just a few months: and this would save an enormous amount of energy. But no, let's blame AI, with our asses freezing at 17 degrees.