Tech Stories

Issue #58

Hello Reader,

It's been a busy season. Apologies if I haven't responded promptly to requests for meetups or calls. I've been rushing multiple projects for a launch event next week, which took up practically all my time these last two weeks. But it's sorted now - and it left me with new thoughts about the role of AI in writing.

I also talk about the high cost of sustainability data centres.

AI won't save bad writers

When AI first burst onto the scene, everyone rushed to share tips on "10x-ing your productivity." Remember those days? LinkedIn was flooded with posts about how you were prompting AI wrong, along with prompt pack downloads promising to change your life.

As I've shared previously, I decided early on to embrace AI and find ways to leverage it effectively. Two camps emerged: those who refused to touch it, and those who used it for everything - often producing bland, robotic copy without realising it. Back then, I found myself frustrated, spending more time fixing AI-generated content than if I'd written from scratch. And I have many stories to tell, including the "Tale of two stories" last October.

Anyway, I had four white papers to edit this week. I've wrangled content from engineers, copywriters, and editors before (some billed hourly) so this isn't my first rodeo. Except this was some 14,000 words. I didn't have enough work hours in the week to do it the old way.

So imagine being assigned an intern for a vital project. Except this intern has more weaknesses than the hype suggests. You might not even trust them. But they're all you've got. What would you do? In my case, the 'intern' was my collection of paid AI subscriptions.

Thankfully, I figured out how to make it work. Let's just say I'm very pleased with the output.

The experience of wrestling 14,000 words into shape left me with some hard truths:

Claude 4 Opus is as exceptional as they say.
Success depends on knowing what's needed and recognising what's missing.
AI either amplifies your capabilities or churns out mediocre mush.

And one epiphany: a skilled coder or writer using AI will leave someone without it in the dust. Which brings me back to my point - AI won't save bad writers. It will only make good writers better - and much, much faster.

The high cost of sustainability

On Friday, DayOne held its groundbreaking for its first Singapore data centre, two years after securing 20MW of capacity through the DC-CFA. While I won't delve into the lengthy delays affecting all four DC-CFA winners, I want to focus on what DayOne revealed about its SG1 facility.

By looking at their plans, we can see exactly what it takes to secure data centre capacity in the data centre hub of Singapore.

According to public reports, DayOne is partnering with NUS to develop next-generation liquid cooling. They're also piloting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) power generation, a potentially zero-carbon technology when powered by hydrogen. The goal is to advance sustainable deployments across Singapore.

A commendable initiative. But they highlight a pressing concern: the cost of building sustainable data centres in Singapore. The city-state already hosts the world's most expensive data centres. Adding cutting-edge technologies like SOFC will only drive costs higher. Can Singapore's data centre market absorb another dramatic price increase?

I shall leave with an anecdote.

A few weeks ago, I chatted with a friend's husband at their daughter's birthday party. He is a top gastroenterologist at a private hospital here. Business isn't what it was, he confided as we watched our kids play. Many of the overseas patients that used to come to Singapore have stopped coming. Why? Soaring costs resulted in insurance companies limiting payouts or declining entirely, driving patients to places like Malaysia for treatment.

And once they left, they never returned.

Could Singapore's data centre customers follow the same path?

As always, you can reach me by replying to this email.

Regards,
Paul Mah.

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