Donald Trump is right: AI has a PR problem. But the problem is rather bigger than the US president seems to think, and the risk of it tipping over into the political realm is rising. Trump’s diagnosis came as some of the biggest AI companies visited the White House to pledge that they would bear the costs of the extra electricity generation and transmission needed to power their data centres.
For many Americans, data centre construction has become the highly visible — and far from welcome — symbol of the AI boom. Buildings that are giant eyesores, create almost no local employment beyond the construction phase and threaten to consume scarce power and water resources are an obvious rallying point for opposition.
The angst over data centres points to something deeper: they are tangible symbols of a technology that has been stirring anxiety. That includes a groundswell of concern over the potential for widespread job losses as well as worries about AI’s impact on children, from virtual AI companions to deep fake porn.