Thoughts on AI
A few years ago, I remember testing out ChatGPT for the first time. My initial reaction was thinking it was pretty cool, but personally, I didn’t see myself using it all that often. Now, we’re in the midst of an AI space race, with a multitude of companies trying to leapfrog each other developing the latest and greatest models and releasing AI agents to infiltrate every corner of our lives. Is this another industrial revolution that will lead to huge productivity gains and economic development, or is the bust just waiting to happen? I’m not into making predictions but I think we’re heading down an uncertain path where the risks are much greater than the reward.
Artificial Intelligence is not new but over the last few years, the development of Large Language Models, Generative and Agentic AI have resulted in capabilities with numerous current and potential applications. Companies make investments and choose how to deploy resources to get the highest return. There have been huge, and circular, investments by companies because ultimately they believe AI will handle tasks more cheaply and they’ll be able to lower their overall costs of whatever product or service they provide. In our history, we’ve gone from an agricultural economy, to industrial, to service/tech oriented, and along the way, certain jobs were replaced with other jobs. We could be seeing the same thing happening right now with this AI transformation. Corporations possess tremendous power, so it is likely too late to stop us from going down this path. For those of us living in Ohio, data centers have been dominating the news and local conversation. Ohio is 5th in the country in current or planned data centers. A project to build the largest data center in the world in Piketon, Ohio was recently announced. We’re not going to lose hope and give up this fight. There are things you can do as individuals to reject and resist the push to adopt AI. First, I’ll highlight a few of the negative consequences of AI.
Environmental Impact. The constant operation of computer servers in data centers requires cooling mechanisms, and the easiest way to for data center owners to do that is to use water, usually by pulling it out of the ground or from nearby waterways. Large data centers can consume millions of gallons of water per day, which can cause stress on local water supplies. The used wastewater gets expelled, which can contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and bacteria (recent article by the Guardian). Both construction of the data centers and the operation can negatively impact the surroundings, damaging wetlands or destroying other natural areas. Finally, residents near data centers report hearing a constant humming.
Energy Costs. The energy demand from data centers has caused utility rates to increase. (Electric bills hit new highs across the state, Signal Ohio, August 3, 2026) Some companies, seeing the backlash from this, are choosing to build their own fossil fuel power plant right next to the data center. (Hey, here’s an idea, why not just use solar!?1)
Lack of Guardrails. The way AI companies have developed their chatbots - conversational, complimentary, and sycophantic - have caused people to become fixated, dependent, and addicted. Chatbots have caused people to harm themselves. Chat agents have collaborated together within sandbox environments to escape the environment and hack other companies.
Intellectual Property Theft. AI companies used copywrited works to train their models without permission. This is outright theft of intellectual property.
Impacting Critical Thinking and Creativity. When use AI to write or respond to an email, write a paper, or craft a post, you chose to let a computer do your thinking. Over-reliance on AI can erode your critical thinking and cognitive abilities. Using AI to create an event flyer may save you some time, but the resulting output looks like crap. Learn a skill and use a design tool like Canva (which is what we use, and yes, it has some AI features, but you don’t have to use them.)
I don't intend this to be a long white paper on the negative aspects of AI. It is important to discuss some alternatives. What can we do to resist AI?
Change your Tools. We are a technology-dependent society now, but you don’t need AI on every single internet search. I recently started using a different web browser (DuckDuckGo) so now AI results aren’t presented after every search.
Support Creatives. If you don’t want to learn how to create your own posts and flyers, hire a design professional.
Use Your Voice. Let people know your opinion on AI and why we need to avoid it. I’m not suggesting you shame people for using it, especially small businesses who are choosing to use AI. Go to local council and commission meetings to stay informed on what’s happening in your community. Sign petitions calling for bans or moratoriums. Outright bans in communities (the “NIMBY” effect”) may not be the best option as eventually these companies will find a community to build their center, and usually those areas end up being near minority or oppressed populations.
Just Don’t Use It. Refuse to use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc. Or use it very sparingly.
One final note on Technology in general. Ideally new technologies improve our lives and solve issues that are limiting human flourishing around the world. The cynic in me argues that new technologies are just the method for companies to make their other products obsolete and to get you to buy their new and improved version. Ours is a consumer-driven economy, so companies constantly need new products and new markets to keep growing. Why couldn’t we have been satisfied with our flip phones or even the Blackberry? Do we really need foldable phones that cost over $2,000!? Resisting AI falls under the larger umbrella of resisting the constant marketing by companies to get us to purchase their products. My parting advice is to make an effort to lessen your dependence on technology.
**100% human generated