Sunday Pick: The Data Center Next Door with Dr. Jacoby Wilson | from TED Tech
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What are the environmental impacts of data centers on neighborhoods?
Happy Sunday, y'all. Elise Hugh here. Today, we're bringing you a Sunday Pick, where we share an episode of another podcast from TED, handpicked by us for you. Imagine if one day your quiet neighborhood came alive with a steady hum and it never went away. All throughout the U.S., data centers are popping up next door and in your backyards, and these buildings guzzle millions of gallons of water, cause noise pollution that doesn't stop, and are raising homeowners' utility bills. Today, I'm sharing a special episode from the TED Tech podcast. the first of a four-part series happening on TED Tech, where host Sherelle Dorsey talks with scientists, organizers, and local leaders to uncover what AI's infrastructure is really doing to our water, our power grid, and the people who are already living with the consequences.
In this episode, you'll hear from environmental health scientist Dr. Jacoby Wilson on what happens when data centers infiltrate a neighborhood. They discuss why data centers disproportionately undermine working class communities and how Dr. Wilson is developing ordinances to better regulate data centers and hold planning commissions more accountable. You can hear the other episodes of this series on data centers on TED Tech, wherever you get your podcasts.
How do data centers affect working-class communities?
or at podcasts.ted.com. Now onto the episode after a short break.
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Somewhere in your city, or maybe just outside of it, there's a building you've probably never thought about. No windows, no sign, and inside, no people. No traces of life.
What is the significance of the People's Report in this context?
Instead, this building houses rows and rows of servers stretching ceiling to floor, cooled by enough water to serve thousands of homes. It pulls power from the grid 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And every time you run an AI query, stream a movie, or send a message to a friend, that building wakes up a little more. Lately, more and more of us have been waking up to an uncomfortable truth. The cloud isn't just an intangible product of the digital age. In fact, the cloud has an address, which means it has neighbors. And it's time we meet them. This is TED Tech, a podcast from TED. I'm your host, Sherelle Dorsey. We talk a lot about AI here on TED Tech, but this month we're looking at the physical house AI lives in, the data center.
Data centers have been around as long as the Internet itself, but they've never garnered this much attention or this much controversy. We've seen the headlines. Your neighborhood data center will impact your electric grid, your water system, your utility bill. And yet, with the rise of AI, this is what it takes to maintain the technology that has made an irreversible impact on the way we live and work. even as the cost gets heavier and heavier. This is a story about AI infrastructure. But really, it's a story about who decides the price of innovation and who ends up paying it. This month, TED Tech is traveling across the country to learn about what's happening on the ground as data centers expand, entering more communities.
We'll look at power, literally and figuratively. What happens when electric grids can't keep up?
What are the health risks associated with data centers?
What can communities do about a crisis they didn't create? We'll also hear about potential solutions and explore what those possibilities can look like. Let's get into it. Prince George's County, Maryland. Majority Black. One of the wealthiest Black communities in the country. Tree-lined streets, good schools, people who built something here and have been fighting to protect it. On the edge of the Beltway, there's an empty lot where a mall used to be.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the environmental impacts of data centers on neighborhoods?
0:04–1:24
2
How do data centers affect working-class communities?
1:24–2:30
3
What is the significance of the People's Report in this context?
2:30–4:33
4
What are the health risks associated with data centers?
4:33–6:06
5
How can communities advocate against harmful data center developments?
6:06–8:45
6
What role does environmental justice play in the fight against data centers?
8:45–11:10
7
How does the data center crisis connect to broader civil rights issues?
11:10–12:42
8
What actions can local governments take to regulate data centers effectively?
12:42–30:21
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from TED Talks Daily
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