Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere now. It is in the memes we scroll through on our social media feeds and it is the first in line to give us an answer when we google something. Companies have been forced to adopt it or become obsolete. I myself had a job interview last Friday, not with a human, but with a voiceover chatbot. “Thank you for that insight,” it told me blankly, after each response. At Vassar College, I think it is fair to say that the response to AI is largely negative. My philosophy major friends are disturbed at how advanced intelligence is no longer exclusive to humans. My economics friends are terrified at the prospect of losing entry-level jobs. You know when economics and philosophy majors agree on something, it is serious. This technology is creating rapid change in society, and that change is going to make many people angry.
The impact of AI on humans starts before the technology itself is fully online. AI requires the construction of massive data centers, the largest of which are as big as 17 football fields. While data centers have been around since the dawn of the internet, they have grown in both size and number with the amount of processing power that AI requires. In 2024, according to Pew Research Center, data centers in the United States consumed enough electricity to power the entire nation of Pakistan. This increase in power is not cheap, and costs are often put on the consumer. The average cost of electricity has been increasing by 13 percent since 2022.
Under President Trump, the government has taken a special interest in the AI industry, emphasizing that the technology must be allowed to develop without constraints. State governments make it easy for developers to build data centers by expediting permits. The idea is that these centers can create jobs and tax revenue, and overall be good for the local economy. According to Forbes, most of these new jobs are temporary construction ones. Many data centers need fewer than 10 employees, thanks to automation. Those who live near data centers do not benefit from job creation. In fact, they face great environmental hardship. A family interviewed by More Perfect Union who lived near a data center described not only higher electric bills, but also light pollution, dust from construction and a burden on clean water infrastructure.
So, those who live near data centers do not get more jobs. But what about the benefits from AI technology itself? Major technological advancements always come with trade-offs. Cars are highly pollutive and demand fuel expenses. However, people enjoy being able to go wherever they want, whenever they want; for drivers, the pros outweigh the cons. Does AI have a similar cost-benefit outcome? I do not think it does. What does AI do for us that the internet and computers do not already do? Sure, it gives us more detailed, compiled answers than a search engine, but those facts themselves are pulled from search engine sources, which can be faulty. Sure, it can generate personalized answers to our math problems and essay prompts, but if you are using ChatGPT for your homework, you likely were not super passionate about the subject in the first place. Sure, it can give therapy to a user if a licensed therapist is not immediately on hand, but can we trust it with mental health? Some recent events, according to NPR, tell us no. All the services of AI seem to come with a drawback and are marginal compared to the great leap of the internet.
The true benefit of AI is for large businesses or people trying to manage infrastructure. Right now, the most immediate benefit is, to put it frankly, replacing jobs. According to Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X, AI in the long run can only improve until it takes up even managerial positions. 41 percent of employers are planning to scale down their workforces, and while 77 percent are trying to train their employees to work alongside AI, the software is constantly changing and improving. The elimination of jobs is happening slowly—sometimes unintentionally, sometimes not. At any rate, it makes sense for CEOs to embrace this change. If I ran a hedge fund and did not want to have to pay the graduates who trade the stocks, AI would save me thousands. Unfortunately, I do not run a hedge fund. AI is useful for the managers of businesses, but a threat to those who work under the managers.
Again, new technology always brings pros and cons when it becomes mainstream. But AI right now has somehow sidestepped all the pros while dumping enough cons on us to fill 17 football fields. AI wrecks the environment but creates few jobs and may, in fact, take them. It imposes high energy costs on the consumer while only making their lives marginally easier. AI’s greatest benefit is toward the American industries, which at present, are being highly deregulated by the federal government in areas of the environment and commerce. Without regulation, big businesses will always pursue the highest profit, even if that profit comes at the expense of consumers and workers. One could argue that this has always been the case, but AI will allow businesses to do this at a scale too large to ignore. The AI industry is moving fast and breaking things, and people are starting to take notice.
I promised in the title that there would be a “revolt” against AI, and it is manifesting as resentment toward machines. Around the summer of 2025, it became popular to use and create pretend slurs for robots. The term “clanker” crossed the internet barrier and was used by Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego back in June. Other instances involve people assaulting Uber Eats delivery robots in the streets. It is undeniable that AI has not been implemented well, and the cracks will continue to spread as long as the industry operates without people in mind. Regulation will be important moving forward. California recently passed SB-52, which grants protections for whistleblowers and forces AI developers to create plans against potential risks. Oregon passed HB-3546, which ensures that the data centers pay for the excess energy they consume. AI cannot be uninvented, but it should develop in ways that enhance our way of life, not threaten it.