Eco-Business: How data centres can avoid becoming the next coal mines

The resistance to Artificial Intelligence will come from the social disruption it will bring – and data centres will be where that backlash lands first. Investors in AI must ensure that its benefits are shared across society, harm is reduced, and value created local

Artificial intelligence (AI) fuels one of Asia’s fastest infrastructure expansions in decades – data centres, which are essential to achieve the promise of AI, such as advances in education, health care, longevity. 

Governments are competing to attract them, investors deploying capital at scale, with utilities straining to keep pace.  

Coal was once framed in similar terms as providing the necessary infrastructure to fuel growth and advance society. It powered development, created jobs, and underpinned economic expansion.  

However, coal brought significant negative environmental impact over time. Opposition first emerged locally, as communities pushed back against mines that consumed land and water and disrupted livelihoods, before widening to the broader damage caused by burning fossil fuels with coal the single biggest contributor to anthropogenic climate change.

Read the Full Article Here!