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Data Centers, AI and Environmental Justice: A Conversation With Freelance Reporter Trae Lewis

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By WEAA News Staff

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape daily life, the infrastructure powering it is raising serious environmental and equity concerns.

Dr. Kaye sat down with Trae Lewis, a freelance reporter and environmentalist based in Texas, to discuss the growing push to place data centers, the backbone of the internet, cloud services and AI, in urban and economically challenged communities.

Lewis and Dr. Kaye discussed the significant demands these facilities place on local resources, including electricity, power and water, and what that means for the communities hosting them. Dr. Kaye noted that as society grows increasingly reliant on AI, the conversation around where and how that technology is housed becomes more urgent.

The two also touched on the GOP election runoff in Texas and an incident in which a Texas attorney used a racial slur multiple times during a trial.