Turns out, storing your data in "the cloud" doesn't mean it's tucked away in a happy little cumulus overhead. It's sitting in a data center, in row upon row of servers, all housed in a building the area of twenty-plus football felds.


Last night, someone asked me if I was for or against data centers--and if we need more of them. Ironic, since just yesterday, we drove by several gigantic data centers going up or recently built in Mesa, Arizona. I recognized the names of some of them: Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc), Google, Microsoft, Apple and Nvidia, along with so many other less-recognized companies, like Edgecore, which has the biggest new data center in Mesa's Elliot Road Technology Corridor: 2.7 million square feet! What? Why do we need more of these massive monstrosities? To store more data from AI? What is AI, anyway?
-The greeting you leave for your spouse that interpreted your voice and created voice to text. The notification from your credit card questioning if the $4.32 you just spent on an app was really you. The filter on your phone flagging SPAM. The Alexa fart command your kids and grandkids can't seem to get enough of. The argument with your father-in-law--you won it because Google said you did. -Your shopping list on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, and Target—and the reviews you read to pick out your next book or blender. Those Amazon packages--from the factory to the warehouse and then piled up in front of your door everyday. The Google lens that tells you whether the antique dish you found during Junk Days is valuable. The online marketplaces that allow you to compare costs of a used F-150 or alert you to the next auction sale. The local grocery store that you can count on to find knoephla now that the weather has turned cold (AI logistics track weather, and when the forecast warns of a cold front, a grocery store’s inventory is AI-updated with more knoephla!) -Your trip to the Dominican, the best stuff to see and do, where to stay, how to get there. Uber rides and Uber eats. That review on Expedia that told you the hotel you chose had head lice. That boarding pass popping up on your phone as you stand in line at the airport. The new friends you met on your trip that pledge to stay in your life through social media. The weird videos that you sent to your buddies while you waited in the airport lobby.

-The tickets to the NFL game you can’t miss—and those athletes you revere using “digital twins,” a cloud infrastructure that tracks their positions, speed, and helmet impact. Wearing high-performance GPS smart vests during practice to scan the biometrics and biomechanics data to detect signs of extreme muscle fatigue and symmetry. Sure, our athletes deserve the best! But before they became such stars, your NFL heroes are scouted using Tactic AI. Human refs assisted by AI offside tracking systems. You get to watch local, live coverage via live global broadcast feeds allowing you to not only watch your games but bet on them too!

-That new house you dreamed of all your life: from contractor evaluations to lot plans to floor plans to bidding to estimates to a smart thermostat that allows you to keep track of your home’s temperature from 2,000 miles away. The robot that keeps your floors clean. The Ring doorbell that tells you a stranger is standing by your front door. Your call to local law enforcement begging them to track down your stolen car. The weather app that tells you to put your car back in the garage because a hail storm is on the horizon. -You had a CT on Tuesday, and guess what? You were asked to go to your electronic medical chart, populated by an electronic medical record kept by your healthcare system--that is linked to other healthcare facilities all over the country. You find out in your Mychart that you don't have a bowel obstruction because AI evaluated your scans and x-rays in a setting 300 miles away. But charting and medical records are not the only role AI plays in your healthcare! The oncologist who tells you he used robotics to remove your father’s tumor. The specialist you'll see this afternoon will verify that your Apple Watch got it right--it tracked your heart health by monitoring your pulse, oxygen levels and electrical heart rhythms. And it counted your steps while it was at it.

-You believe in good citizenship so naturally, you must want green energy powering your life, right? Those solar panels and wind turbines, though—-how does the energy they produce fit into the electrical grid and your energy supply in real time? And speaking of energy, how does your electricity supplier avoid blackouts and brownouts? How does it forecast consumer demand? How does it respond to a fallen tree; how does it re-route power after major disasters? How did your linemen know to show up in the middle of the night to restore power you didn't even know was off? The electric grid itself—how is it dependable even during times of rising demand from data centers? How often do you flip on a light switch or turn on a television without thinking about it? More data? More AI? What part of your own electric supply isn’t programmed by AI already? Still, I hate the idea of AI and data centers! Someone is getting rich from them! Who? Apple, Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), Microsoft, Nvidia. Those damn billionaires—Bezos, Page, Gates and such—that’s who. But wait. Companies investing in AI are publicly traded, meaning you can invest in them and reap the profits, too. Have you checked your 401-K or IRA lately? Maybe you are already invested in them! Is that the reason your portfolio is looking so good these days? NVIDIA, up 25.5%, Amazon, up 21.3%. Both outperforming the S&P 500 (16%) over the past 12 months.

But still. I don't care. Data centers use too much electricity and water. We will all suffer higher electric rates because of them. Well, not always. Data centers in Mesa's tech corridor have addressed the water issue by using largely water-positive, closed-loop cooling that requires minimal water. That process is becoming the standard. And some data companies are building their own electrical generation. For example, Apple's Mesa data center is 100 percent powered by a 300-acre solar farm near Florence, Ariz.

Electricity and water issues aside, data centers are just evil ways to make the rich richer. Yes, and we do have a way to fight against those rich demons. Hand in your cell phone. Shut off your Smart TV, take off your Smart Watch. Unplug Alexa and say goodbye to Siri. Email your contacts with your physical address and tell them where to send business and personal mail. Have your land line reinstalled. Close down your Amazon and all other smart shopping accounts. Tell Google goodbye. Shut your laptop down and trade off that car or truck that drives itself down the highway— or has mere navigation— for a 1990 model that was bothered by none of those things.

Dig out a Rand McNally atlas, your old point-and-shoot camera and make sure you get a flashlight and compass now that your cell phone has been trashed. Call your energy supplier and tell them you want your power supply ONLY if it is NOT managed by AI. Dig out that old telephone book and call your bank to tell them that all your accounts will have to be closed IF the bank uses AI to manage them. Tell your doctor she is not to confer with off-site specialists who could diagnose that back pain that’s keeping you from your work. Tell your grandkids that you can’t watch their Christmas program on FaceTime.

Take your kids out of public school or college because tablets. They learn with tablet computers and white boards there--how dare! More AI and more data centers? Why do we need them? Have you asked AI to build a spreadsheet lately? Manage your email contacts, photoshop the aging portrait of your grandparents? Research your ancestry, visited an arcade using virtual reality and those funny headsets? Tapped into the cameras that surveilled your child's daycare? Used Zoom to connect with people around the world?
Have you ever gone on a trip in which you consulted Google AI for its travel guidance? Booked a VRBO in the most remote area of the country? Gotten into gaming online?

All that data—-beginning with your contact list, photos, games, social media, email texts, CT scans, x-rays, banking, investments and so much more--has to reside somewhere. Turns out, storing your data in "the cloud" doesn't mean it's tucked away in a happy little cumulus overhead. It's sitting in a data center, in row upon row of servers, all housed in a building the area of twenty-plus football felds. . Storing your data alongside heavy hitter data clients like those managing electricity, law enforcement, national defense, transportation, food supply, healthcare and more.
If you are a “no” to data centers, what’s your alternative? Moving to China may not be an option. If enough of us shut down data centers here, they are sure to have more over there.