TJ Walker argues tech companies impose real local costs: data centers drive up electricity bills, consume millions of gallons of water for cooling while farmers face restrictions, and make secretive deals that shift profits away. Communities are starting to refuse subsidizing AI and demanding payment instead.
Across the country right now, people say they're against AI, but what they actually mean is this: they don't want their electricity bill going up so a tech company can train a chatbot to sound more empathetic than their ex. They don't want millions of gallons of local water going to cool servers while farmers are being told to conserve. And they definitely don't want politicians cutting quiet deals with trillion-dollar companies only to tell the public after it's already done. This isn't fear of technology. This is people realizing the costs are local and the profits are not. And for the first time, communities are starting to say, if AI's coming here, we're not going to pay for it. We're charging for it. Ultimize.
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