Is bulldozing homes, seizing land, harming the climate, and replacing
workers
really worth everyone having an AI agent?
Date:
Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:05:00 +0000
AI agents will soon handle your work, and your personal life - but at what
cost? There are a lot of sacrifices
being made to usher in the latest technological age. Jobs, businesses, even
whole industries are at risk of disappearing.
Now we can add homes to the list - as new electricity infrastructure for
data
centers in the state of Georgia means 30 homes are to be bulldozed and 330
parcels of land seized . The good news is that the additional power will
allow for extra data center capacity. And those same people who lost their
houses can look forward to having their own personal AI agent to help to
find
a new place to live. In case you missed it, Mark Zuckerberg has announced
yet
another five year plan for AI, saying that billions of people will soon
have
their own personal AI agents - something that will require a data center
buildout far beyond anything weve currently seen.
These agents will be working on your behalf 24/7 to achieve your goals in
whatever the domain is that you care about, Zuckerberg said. Theyll
basically
do everything you already do, manage your relationships, sort your
finances,
even manage your household tasks.
So when AI frees everyone from the burdens of being human, what are we left
to contend with? We get to channel the world's resources, climate, homes,
and
personal information and in return, AI can live your life for you. Youll
have
so much free time to do something else? Maybe listen to the tuneful hum of
the local data center?
The promises of AI seem to add up to human replacement. The main reason
businesses are chewing at the bit to adopt AI technology is because it
promises to cut one of their main expenses: labor. The levels of
productivity
will stay the same, or maybe even improve, but profits will skyrocket
thanks
to significantly reduced operating costs.
There will be new jobs in new never-before-thought-of sectors, or so we are
told. But is this just a way to placate those losing their jobs to AI
technology?
At present, AI is cutting through the entry level positions and
administrative work that used to be a good way into a new industry. AI is
therefore replacing existing workers, while simultaneously shutting them
out
from moving to other industries. Lets not forget that many workplaces are
implementing AI interviewers that suck what was left of human interaction
(much of which is a facade) out of the job seeking process.
As an added kick in the teeth, once youve lost your source of income your
energy bills will likely rise as data centers attach to an already strained
electricity grid. Many US electricity providers have upped bills as a way
to
pay for infrastructural upgrades to provide new connections for data
centers.
And dont forget the air quality will get worse as more and more gas-burning
turbines power up to meet the demand for power.
I still believe there is some good AI can do for the world, particularly in
science and medicine. But the main benefit I expect AI to provide to the
workplace is a revitalization of labor unions. Despite decades of union
busting and a general decline in membership as the old guard retires, this
new threat to workers will hopefully act as a catalyst to return labor
unions
to their former glory.
The more members they have, the stronger they are. No amount of AI agents
can
change that.
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/is-bulldozing-homes-seizing-land-harming-the-
cli
mate-and-replacing-workers-really-worth-everyone-having-an-ai-agent
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--- MultiMail/DOS
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * KY, USA (1:2320/107)
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