AI & Data Centers
Waters across Turtle Island face a new threat: hyperscale data centers. These massive computing facilities are being built at an alarming rate, consuming millions of gallons of water a day and threatening Mother Earth. Data centers are the frontline of water protection.
We are told that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will revolutionize our world. But behind every AI-generated image, every instant chatbot reply, and every algorithmic decision, lies a colossal, energy-guzzling data center. AI has a very real, very physical cost.
And now, tech giants are targeting Tribal and rural lands for the construction of these data centers. Once again, Indigenous, Black, and Brown peoples pay the price for the convenience of AI while powerful corporations profit. This is a new form of extraction, no different from the mines and pipelines we have long resisted.
These companies target our resilient lands because they believe rural, coal-dependent communities lack the political power and financial resources to fight back. They bank on us being divided and overlooked. But they have underestimated the power of our Peoples when we unite in defense of what is sacred. They underestimate the strength of our Peoples that have stewarded this land for millennia.
This session is the first in a two part series on AI & Data Centers in Indian Country. For this session of Decolonize U we will be discussing:
- What is AI? How does AI work (or doesn't work)? What are the types of AI?
- What are data centers? How do data centers work? What are the types of data centers?
- Why is it important to fight back against AI & data centers in Indian Country and around the world?
The goal of this first session is to establish basic working knowledge and understanding of AI and data centers.
In our second session we feature our organizers at Honor, our campaigns against data centers, how we're working with our relatives across Indian Country, and how we are fighting back and winning.
