Insights on AI


AI Stupidity or Unwise Intelligence

In 1992, I worked as a regional environmental planner in Northern Virginia, a place still defined by its landscapes and communities. Today, it has been overtaken by “Data Center Alley,” home to 300–600 facilities consuming 4,140–4,900 megawatts of electricity. This staggering demand strains local grids, with AI promising even sharper increases.  

Amazon Web Services alone operates more than 160 centers—the largest corporate concentration worldwide—recently adding a $700 million campus in Prince William County. Yet the deals behind these projects remain cloaked in secrecy.  

The repercussions are profound:  

- Power grids forced into costly upgrades, expenses passed to residents.  

- Noise from generators and cooling systems disrupting neighborhoods.  

- Diesel emissions degrading air quality and health.  

- Roads, emergency services, and local systems stretched thin.  

- Depressed property values near looming facilities.  

- Vast water use, rising carbon emissions, and mounting e‑waste.  

For Virginians, the costs are visible in climbing electricity bills—some estimates warn of increases up to 50 percent. Yet these same corporations enjoy subsidies: exemptions on materials, machinery, and utilities, with nearly $1 billion in tax savings granted in 2023.  

Northern Virginia has been transformed. Why are taxpayers subsidizing corporations that raise our costs, pollute our air, and consume our resources?  

This was a letter to the editor in the Richmond Times Dispatch  published November 11th

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