Rick Platt is President and CEO of the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority with over three decades of experience in Ohio industrial development. He is a board member of JobsOhio.
You don’t have to like data centers to like AI.
I can reconcile the fact that I carry a phone loaded with AI-equipped capabilities and am a user of ChatGPT, X and Facebook, yet I am no fan of the proliferation of data centers.
It’s a false choice.
I contend I can like AI and be hopeful for its future even if I wish data centers created more jobs.
First Thought: Rooting for AI
I can put thumbs-up on my kids’ sporting events and hearts on my granddaughter’s photos even if I would rather see industrial sites kept ready for manufacturers instead of data centers.
I won’t shed tears if my mom’s social
media likes from 2013 are lost in a power outage instead of her air conditioning going out and the food in her fridge spoiling in a rolling blackout.
Google, NVIDIA and Microsoft are all speaking to more efficient data centers in the future. Data centers could use a smaller footprint for the same output. Intel’s Gordon Moore and Moore’s Law concept is another predictor to watch. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, said, “The first thing we’re doing is modernizing data centers, accelerating it, densifying it, making it more energy efficient.”
Yes, AI is growing computing demand, but more efficient data storage means computing supply is growing rapidly, too. Both are happening.
Another Thought: Don’t blame AI
AI shouldn’t be held up as a shield against data center backlash.
Don’t tell me I have to like data centers’ location choices simply because I’m upbeat about the future of AI.
It’s a local decision to accept data centers. A local community can embrace AI and still, rightly, question the best use of land and resources to best achieve local impact.
Even with the massive growth, data centers directly account for about 0.5% of Ohio’s gross domestic product compared with 15% for manufacturing. Ohio needs to accommodate data centers without allowing them to crowd out the manufacturing sector that has long been one of the state’s greatest strengths.
Third Thought: AI and jobs
Don’t fear AI taking away jobs. That’s another false choice.
Fear of losing jobs to technology and mechanization is not a new idea.
I do family history research, and it shows typesetter, copy editor, drayman and harness maker in the mix among my ancestors’ jobs. You must search hard to even know what those jobs involve.
Jobs evolve. New jobs emerge.
Businesses are benefiting from AI embedded in everyday work. It’s a much-needed edge. Just like knowing how to use spreadsheet software in 1990 or 3D printing in 2010, jobs of the future will require knowledge of how to use AI.
Economist Lauren Saidel-Baker said it right way back in 2018, “The number of new jobs created by artificial intelligence may actually exceed the number of jobs eliminated.”
Count me among the growing number of people who are pro-AI and rooting for its future benefits for Ohio business and workforce. Supporting AI, though, doesn’t mean supporting every data center, in every location, with every incentive.
Rick Platt is President and CEO of the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority with over three decades of experience in Ohio industrial development. He is a board member of JobsOhio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Don't blame AI for the data center backlash in Ohio | Three Thoughts Column
