Odd Lots · Sep 24, 2026 · 27m · 16m saved
With Taylor Lorenz, Founder of User Mag · Rachel Karten, Social Media Consultant and Author of the Link in Bio Newsletter
Opposition to data centers will be an issue in the 2026 US elections, not the 2028 one, Taylor Lorenz said, and by 2028 voters will probably have something new to be angry about.
Much of the debate about AI is about whether it will one day kill everyone. Lorenz said people opposed to data centers object for very different reasons from those worried about that risk, and the two groups have not formed any coalition.
"Data centers is an issue of 2026."
Taylor Lorenz, a tech journalist and founder of the User Mag newsletter, on Odd Lots, writes about online culture and tech policy. She appeared with Rachel Karten, a social media consultant whose Link in Bio newsletter is a trade publication for corporate social media teams, at Odd Lots' first live show in Los Angeles.
The full episode is covered here so you can skip it. 27 minutes of audio, 11 minutes of reading.
Here are the 12 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Bosses are running their staff's work through AI chatbots, Karten found after talking to about a hundred marketers
Consumers read AI-made brand content as a sign the company cuts corners, Karten said
People enjoy AI content until they feel tricked, Lorenz said
How-to creators will struggle, because people will ask AI instead, Lorenz said
Data center opposition is a 2026 election issue, not a 2028 one, she said
Meta is "very 2010s social media" and Google is better placed, Lorenz said
Threads is the most toxic platform, Karten said, because its algorithm rewards angry replies
Two or three of Instagram's 20 most-viewed reels were AI-generated, Karten found
1. AI Slop Backstage
The hosts opened the live show in Hollywood by saying the city called for an episode on the influencer economy and how AI is changing it: what happens to creators when making content becomes free or nearly free.
Lorenz described herself as a tech journalist who writes roundups on online culture, tech and tech policy for her Substack, User Mag. Karten said her newsletter, Link in Bio, is "the primary trade publication for social media teams."
The mood: an exploding Coca-Cola truck
Asked about the mood in social media, Karten said Lorenz had shown her a video backstage. It was AI-generated: a Coca-Cola truck exploding, a Mentos truck next door, a man flying through the sky, captioned as the kind of AI video "your mom sends you." A host said that for years the only content on the internet was Mentos and Coca-Cola.
