Writing
Start here: An overview of my writing on AI and the environment
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2026
I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers
Thinking about other industries like we think about data centers shows how impoverished the debate is
I’m very skeptical that China has played a meaningful role in the US data center backlash
Toward liberal environmentalism
AI art as curation
What does it mean for AI to be democratic?
A plug for a tool I made to show how little most current AI chatbots add to your emissions and water use, with citations
A simple trick to fix the data center debate
Why I think panic about local impacts of data centers is just a panic
A history of the data center panic - part 1
A crash course on US air pollution
Let’s not compare data center heat exhaust to nuclear bombs
Data center land use issues are fake
To be clear, I do understand how sound works
Contra Benn Jordan, data center (and all) sub-audible infrasound issues are fake
Training AI models doesn’t emit that much
What’s blocking Waymo in DC and how can we fix it?
Data centers’ heat exhaust is not raising the land temperature around where they’re built
A call for more specific and numerate climate communication
2025
AI can obviously create new knowledge
A Playbook for New EA Groups
Empire of AI is wildly misleading about AI water use
A short summary of my argument that using ChatGPT isn’t bad for the environment
The lump of cognition fallacy
A list of other catastrophes that are probably fake
It’s much easier to hold computers accountable than it is to hold humans accountable
Data centers and low social trust
An armchair diagnosis of the chatbot moral panic
Always mask at airports
A lot of arguments for legalizing autonomous vehicles in your city
AI and Folk Cartesianism - Part 2: Problems for Cartesianism
AI and Folk Cartesianism - Part 1: Defining the Problem
Requests for journalists covering AI and the environment
The main way I’ve seen people turn ideologically crazy
A few meta points on my posts on AI and the environment
Slop implies capability
The AI water issue is fake
Data centers & electricity - part 1: as of 2025 they haven’t raised national prices
What a data center is
More Perfect Union videos are wildly deceptive on data center water use
For the climate, little things don’t add up
What’s the full “hidden” climate cost of a ChatGPT prompt?
Do data centers only seem bad for the climate because we can see them?
Jevons’ Paradox is good sometimes
Mapping the AI & environment debate
The core simple reason I think AI is valuable
An example of what I consider a misleading article about AI and the environment
When making cuts for the climate, always consider the value you’re getting per unit energy, not just the total energy used
A ton of AI images I’ve made that I’ve liked
Contra the UK government, please don’t delete your old photos and emails to save water
Egalitarianism requires quantification
My can of soup example of bad climate communication
Amazon deliveries are often better for the environment than driving to buy the stuff in a store
Additional resources on US policy careers
All my (vegan) fitness advice - Part 3: Products, mindset, and motivation
All my (vegan) fitness advice - Part 2: Diet, supplements, and optimization
All my (vegan) fitness advice - Part 1: Exercise and etiquette
AI can be bad without being useless
My “Are you presuming most people are stupid?” test
Computing is efficient
Even with a perfect government, we’d still need a lot of private charity
Resource recs on AI catastrophic risk
All the ways I want the AI debate to be better
Reactions to MIT Technology Review’s report on AI and the environment
Things I got wrong in my ChatGPT/environment posts
Why goofy AI art almost never seems wasteful to me
Replies to criticisms of my posts on ChatGPT & the environment
Animal suffering isn’t pretend
Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment - a cheat sheet
ChatGPT on the lives of factory farmed pigs
Ideological moves that should be lower status
Resource recs for energy literacy
How I use AI
A defense of AI art
People’s deeply held beliefs are surprisingly surface-level
Ideas from philosophy I use to think about AI
How EA DC can help you get the most out of visiting Washington DC
Using ChatGPT is not bad for the environment
2024
Strategies for learning
The core idea of liberalism
Product recommendations
DC vegan food recs
Especially good audiobooks
Productivity advice that’s worked for me
My favorite 80,000 Hours episodes
Resources on US policy careers
2023
