Wait, is My ChatGPT Prompt Causing Asthma and Low Income Displacement?

 

In the age of AI in our everyday digital life, it’s very tempting to use AI from everyday tasks, revise your emails to check grammar, and be a companion to the most menial tasks like remembering to get laundry detergent.

Have you wondered every time you enter your prompt in Claude or ChatGPT, you’re increasing not only data center construction growth, but also the energy demand, resource impacts like water and soil, and displacement of rural low income communities to migrate to other places.

They’re better alternatives that can still be beneficial to the environment, help low income communities living near data centers not be displaced while still having the benefits of learning through AI.


The New Socioeconomic Segregation

According to the University of Alabama’s UAB Institute, often data center operators choose rural areas for establishing data centers, causing health issues and pushing low income families to relocate. For example, in rural towns like Bessemer, Alabama is primarily an African American community which already suffers the highest mortality rate from air pollution from the coal mining industry. Now their health is more at risk from the diesel backup generators toxic fumes data centers produce. Diesel generators can release 200 to 600 more nitrous oxides than a natural plant creating these low income communities to suffer from asthma and other respiratory issues.

This is not considering the energy impacts which according to the UAB Institute, the pressure on data centers on our local energy grids cause long lasting energy blackouts, and cost added resident’s energy bills which low income families can’t afford.


Limit Your Digital Footprint

Seriously, it’s really hard but it can be done! Before I get vilified for asking you to not use AI photo editing filters to post your latest family member’s birthday on Instagram, or not look for book recommendations online, remember the disfranchised communities that are being displaced every day, and the public health impact of these communities.

Physical connections such as joining a knitting or sports social group, going to the library to look for book recommendations or simply putting a timer at work on how much technical research is done, and also relying on books about the subject can go a long way.


Demand Data Center Companies to Use Renewable Energy and Data Center Stipend for Low Income Communities

Even with data centers' moratoriums across the country, the AI market is not leaving anytime soon.
Pressuring data center companies to use renewable sources of energies can perhaps alleviate public health issues such as toxic fumes, dirty water and other environmental concerns. Also, the displacement of low income communities can be reduced for data center companies paying the communities a monthly or yearly fee to all citizens of the data center community, or investing in their communities public school. A monthly or yearly stipend can help low income families affected by the emergence of a data center in their communities to not be displaced.

 
My challenge to you: Whenever you’re tempted to post something on social media or looking for
non-essential recommendations online, use your local library resources instead.
Although it might seem counterintuitive or more time consuming physically driving, or walking there, your local library has many resources that you may not find online and even join community cooking workshops where you can build new connections. Also in the process, you’re helping rural disfranchised communities not get removed from their communities and protecting the healthcare of those communities.

Sources & Learn More

If you’re interested in learning more about data center’s environmental impact, renewable tools for data centers and how to reduce your AI digital footprint, check these articles below.

UAB Institute/ University of Alabama- Construction and Consequences: The Human Impacts of
Artificial Data Centers
David Suzuki Foundation - How to Reduce Your Digital Carbon Footprint
The Tech Policy Press- -What to Do About the Glut of Data Centers
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences- A Sustainable Future for Data Centers
International Energy Agency- Energy Supply for AI

Everyone Taking Small Steps Can Lead to Big Changes

Climate change is a big problem, perhaps one of the most severe the world has yet faced. It effects us all, and progress can be frustrating when political leaders do not lead in this area. Fortunately, we do not have to wait to make small changes in our lives that make a big impact on the planet, and author Elizabeth Rogers has compiled that list in The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time.

This book contains hundreds of small steps any individual can take right now to reduce their impact on the environment and slow degradation. Some examples are:

----->"Don’t ask for ATM receipts. If everyone in the United States refused their receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!
-----> Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You’ll conserve up to five gallons of water per day. Throughout the entire United States, the daily savings could add up to more water than is consumed every day in all of New York City.
-----> Get a voice-mail service for your home phone. If all answering machines in U.S. homes were replaced by voice-mail services, the annual energy savings would total nearly two billion kilowatt hours. The resulting reduction in air pollution would be equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from the road for a year!"

These are all very simple steps that do not require more work. In fact, many of these ideas save ourselves time and money, and reduce resource consumption. It's a win-win! 

Please check The Green Book out at the library or buy it from Amazon for $0.01. The everyday tips, if done in aggregate, can lead to changes of a global proportion.

Renewable energy is great; still cost prohibitive on large scales

 

One big remaining issue with green technology is that is still very expensive. The chances of green energy overtaking the use of fossil fuels as a primary source of energy throughout the world is not currently not great. It's still simply too expensive and cost prohibitive. Bill Gates has recently announced that he will invest $2 billion in new green technology in the next five years with the intent to "bend the curve" on climate change. He understands that the current renewable energy options come at a "beyond astronomical cost". Bill Gates tends to get things done, so hopefully his investments can help lead to the kinds of "energy miracles" he's called for in the past


While we are still a ways off on using forms renewable energy on a grand scale, everyone can still do what they can to cut down their use of energy that burns fossil fuels in the mean time.

Don't forget to take this term's survey, if you haven't already: https://t.co/pVfu2NoNxu

Renewable Energy in Europe

Recently, over 500 politicians met for the 3rd European Renewable Energy Policy Conference in Brussels. They came to the consensus that “renewable energy will be the mainstream source of Europe’s energy supply by 2050.” (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) They decided that 80% of the energy used will come from renewable energy sources in 2050.

This decision is of considerable importance, and should be taken into consideration by the United States. The European Union has recognized that the European Renewable Energy Industry is providing thousands of new jobs, is cost efficient, and is working to reduce CO2 emissions. (RenewableEnergyWorld.com)

Each of these advantages to working on increasing the use renewable energy work well with Howard Gardners’ suggestions in his book Changing Minds. By working to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions, the EU is using reason to appeal to its citizens. Also, the idea of protecting the environment resonates with people. And furthermore, jobs and decreases in energy costs act as rewards for those who live and work in Europe.

If we use rewards, reason, and resonance to change the minds of those in our country, we might be able to switch over to using primarily renewable energy sooner.

Post by Alexandra West

“European Commission Projects 80% Renewable Energy by 2050.” RenewableEnergyWorld.com. N. p., 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2009, < http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/11/european-commission-projects-80-renewable-energy-by-2050>.