Would you be surprised if I told you that these numbered circles represent a recent tally of data centers in the U.S. What is a data center? According to Cisco, one of the tech giants: “At its simplest, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. Data centers accommodate the following:
- Email and file sharing, productivity applications, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and databases, big data, AI – artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
These are not just new buildings and potential jobs; they can burden inadequate infrastructure, as well as draw water and electricity from the rural communities and populated cities where they are located. The top ten data center cities are according to CoreSite.com: 1. Northern Virginia – over 250; 2. Dallas – over 150; 3. Silicon Valley – nearly 150; 4. Los Angeles – 150; 5. New York Tri-State Area – over 130; 6. Chicago – over 120 centers; 7. Washington, D.C. – over 100; 8. Atlanta – over 70; 9. Miami – over 100; 10. Phoenix – 60 centers.
Do you know how many are near where you live?
But What is the Impact on the Land and Water?
A good example is Meta = Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Additionally, Meta owns Reality Labs, which focuses on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software. Meta has 24 U.S. data centers, plus 1 in Asia and 2 in Europe.
Meta boasts that they “Approach sustainability from the ground up and focus on renewable energy . . . and being a good neighbor in the communities we serve. Meta’s goal is to be water positive in 2030.”
So what happens between now and 2030?
“Data centers are hugely resource intensive,” said Amy Sharma, of the science advocacy group Science for Georgia. To keep the data centers running, they require copious amounts of water to feed their cooling systems. It’s estimated that one large data center might use upwards of 200 million gallons annually or the equivalent of 2,000 homes. For now, Georgia is feeling that draw on its water system more than most other states, and at least 25 new centers are on the way. According to the proposals, the potential projects would require more than 5.2 billion gallons of water each year.
Concerned factions in Georgia say that taxed infrastructure was not built for the surge in consumption, a low water table, and how the water’s drawn. Additionally, not enough attention is being paid so that the growing industry achieves a balance between development of this inevitable technology and stewardship of the resources required to power it. Several small towns in Georgia located very near a data center have already experienced water shortages on a daily basis: toilets don’t flush, faucets and showers drip water, among other disruptions to daily living.
Many thoughtful people wonder if the tech horse isn’t already out of the barn.
Here’s another example of the toll data centers can take on communities. In 2022, a Google-owned data center in The Dalles, Oregon received scathing criticism from residents after the local authority revealed the facility used one-third of the city’s water supply for cooling purposes. What followed was a fight between Google and the City of The Dalles in the middle of a multi-year drought. The court records showed water usage had tripled since 2017 with 15% of all its freshwater usage coming from areas with ‘high water scarcity’ in 2023. Not to be outdone, Microsoft revealed that 42% of its freshwater withdrawals during 2023 came from “areas with water stress.”
By rushing ahead with AI, how much damage will unregulated big tech inflict on human life and related resources? As a country, we really need to start talking about the true cost of the tech revolution and who should be managing it? Who will control the data being gathered on everyone whether through social media, wearables, your doctor’s office, phone apps, and laptops. Companies like Meta and Google scrape off every bit of information, down to what groceries you buy, and make huge profits selling it – but to whom? Privacy is long gone and in its place are “techionaires.” They harness their thought-shaping and information management strategies and defy the average person’s comprehension – including mine.
Mark Zuckerberg’s New Ideas – Friends and a New Business Model
I ended Part I with an observation about Bill Gates. This week I’m closing with one about Mark Zuckerberg. A post from Matt Stoller, in his weekly “Monopoly Round-Up: Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Be Your Therapist” caught my eye. “Zuckerberg talked about how Americans on average have only three friends, but want fifteen. He then explained that though emotional connections with AI bots are socially disfavored now, eventually society will ‘find the vocabulary’ to understand that people who use AI to fill a hole of loneliness in their lives are ‘rational’.” It’s worth noting that Facebook has been accused of already conducting thought experiments in partnership with the US military’s DARPA agency.
Zuckerberg has another idea that some consider creepy – me included.
Zuckerberg is all-in on AI therapists. Old-fashioned, human therapists and psychiatrists have to follow ethical guidelines and receive substantial training. Who will decide your course of therapy at Meta? And how will your data be shared and with whom? If much of the mental health treatment strategies and pharmaceutical solutions are being questioned, where will the AI therapist gather their information?
And not to be outdone by the likes of Google and Meta, Elon Musk forecasts that there will be tens of millions of “humanoid robots” and autonomous cars in the near future. Robots will surpass good human surgeons within a few years and the best human surgeons within 5 years.”
On a Personal Note: We’re speeding toward a radically different world. I found my concerns beautifully expressed by Jeff Childers in a May 2025, post: “. . .there’s no going back. Who will say no to perfect memory, flawless scheduling, infinite trivia, real-time training, and on-demand emotional support? Chatting with chatbots like they were real people is already a nearly irresistible temptation. People are already naming their chatbots, apologizing to them, asking for comfort and advice, flirting, confessing. When something feels real, our brains stop caring whether or not it is real. It’s far more troublesome than concerns about privacy, control of your consumer data, or even the risk your personal chat companion will tattle to the authorities when you throw a battery in the trash instead of taking it to the hazmat center. It is about control. An AI that knows everything about you has influence. It can gently steer us —just nudges!— anyway it wants. Our upcoming struggle isn’t about privacy. It’s about the sovereignty of the human will. The ultimate contest isn’t over data. It’s over mental autonomy.”
Just when I thought there was no laugh to be found on the AI topic, I saw this at The Babylon Bee on 5-20-25 posted on their site. Thanks to the Bee for a laugh.
Photo credits: US data map – Core Site.com, horse out of the barn – lisa lowe