AI and Data Centers: Sustainability's Wicked Problem

Andrew Baruth

Creighton University

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After listening to this presentation and reading the slide deck, please refer to the bottom of the page for self-reflection questions to assist with your next steps!

Overview

AI and cloud technologies can feel like a weightless addition to your phone or computer, but they rely on massive physical infrastructure. Behind every chatbot prompt, streamed video, or uploaded file are data centers consuming large amounts of electricity and water – likely locally.

KNOW

• Data centers are an essential component of AI, cloud storage, and most digital services.
• Data center electricity demand is rapidly increasing across the US, and that demand affects nearly every region of the country.
• Renewable energy claims (e.g., “100% matched”) don’t always mean real-time clean energy.
• Electric grid reliability supporting data center operations still depends heavily on fossil-fuel-based power plants.

REFLECT

• Why do “virtual” technologies have physical environmental impacts?
• Who benefits from data centers and who bears the costs?
• What tradeoffs exist between innovation and sustainability?
• Consider this “wicked problem”
  • Cleaner energy is not always reliable.
  • Reliable energy is not always clean.
  • Economic incentives can conflict with environmental goals, which can conflict with social goals, which can hinder economic goals, which can…

EMPOWER

• Critically evaluate sustainability claims from tech companies.
• Support policies around energy transparency and infrastructure planning.
• Engage in local discussions about energy, zoning, and development.

Discussion Prompts

KNOW

• What surprised you about how AI uses energy?
• What is “capacity value” and why does it matter?

DO

• What actions could reduce the environmental impact of AI?
• How could communities influence energy decisions?

BE

• What responsibilities do tech companies have to communities?
• How should society balance innovation and sustainability?

SELF-REFLECTION: INVITATION FOR EDUCATORS:

• How might this lesson connect to your discipline (business, STEM, ethics, healthcare, etc.)?

• What local examples could make this issue more tangible for your students?

• How might students investigate their own interactions with and usage of data centers?

• What opportunities exist for project-based learning or policy analysis?

• How could your students remix or extend this lesson (debate, simulation, stakeholder mapping)?

Closing Thought

AI and data centers are not just a technological issue. They are a systems challenge that connects energy, environment, economics, and justice. There may be no perfect solution, but understanding the system and some of its connections is the first step toward shaping it.