Our nation, like many others, is racing to stay on top of the global transitions occurring as AI becomes increasingly instrumental. Some welcome it, many fear it. But it's here to stay. The genie is not going back into the bottle. Even if the US took a hiatus or put the brakes on, as is being proposed by various leaders, China is WAY down the road in implementing the technology. And they are not doing so for the general benefit of humanity. Our government is promoting building of more datacenters to support the ever-increasing demand. But these facilities place significant pressure on a community's water and power networks. They also require large tracks of land space. While there are no immediate proposals for a datacenter in our area, one possible location could be the new Shoal River Industrial Park under development east of Crestview. This facility may have sufficient space and possibly its own power grid. However, we are not manufacturing any more water, and with all the growth already taking place, how much more will a datacenter challenge our water sources? Even if datacenters supposedly bring significant financial benefits, will this offset the drain on our resources?
This post is not intended to argue against datacenters, per se. Yet, beyond just the real issues about impacts on local water and electricity, there are larger societal concerns about how such accumulation of data could be employed against personal liberties by nefarious agencies. As we enter this new era, we need a national discussion of the benefits and risk of ever-more powerful AI on our world. Just as we faced the advent of nuclear energy over 80 years ago, that profoundly altered human history, we need to ensure we control the technology, and not it being used to control us.