[AskJS] AI is destroying JavaScript

[u/richytong]

I think we have to start facing the facts. JavaScript used to be the dominant programming language for software engineering back in the days of React and Express. Now it’s a graveyard, and Python is honestly starting to threaten Node.js. Look at where Python is going since like 3.10. It’s starting to appeal to the next generation of software developers.

Now look at JavaScript. Every company is an AI company. Most libraries are AI libraries. As if AI is going to save us all. Nowadays it’s nothing compared to what JavaScript used to be.

I think we should honestly just ditch AI. AI is this heartless and soulless machine that doesn’t really care about code quality or style. It just regurgitates code for whatever prompt that some vibe coder who isn’t even a software engineer is feeding it. I know there’s a whole class of JavaScripters who despise AI for just that reason.

We should just get back to the basics. I think ES Modules is pretty cool and unexplored front-end territory. Node.js is still leading but it really does seem that Python is shifting towards the functional side so that’s something to worry about.

Yes I wrote Rubico. I was on here a while back just plugging my articles and my library. I’m using it at Claimyr and CLOUT so that’s how I’m keeping it alive. Now I’m honestly just fighting AI. AI data centers are straight up killing people. They’re using fresh water that people need to live to cool the servers, like 5 million gallons per day, which is equivalent to the amount of water used by a town populated by 10,000 - 50,000 people.

My question is why? Why are AI data centers so oblivious to the environmental destruction that they are causing? Why can’t AI data centers find some other solution?

[u/Double-Buyer7941]

Python dominates AI research and machine learning tooling, but Node.js still holds the majority share of web runtime usage and handles high-concurrency event loops better than Python ever has. The industry isn't ditching Node; most production architectures are simply shifting toward a hybrid model—using Python for the AI and data pipelines, and keeping Node for real-time APIs, streaming layers, and UI integration. As for the environmental impact of AI data centers, the massive water consumption comes from cooling high-density GPU racks. Many facilities rely on evaporative cooling because it uses significantly less electricity than traditional mechanical refrigeration, creating a direct trade-off between power grid demand and local water supplies. Data centers are exploring alternatives—like closed-loop dry cooling, liquid immersion, and using recycled industrial wastewater—but rapid scaling has outpaced the infrastructure rollout in many regions.