Using artificial intelligence (A. I. ) may seem magical—type a prompt and instantly receive an answer. Yet, this illusion hides immense environmental costs. One prompt consumes about ten times the energy of a standard internet search. Behind this magic lie vast data centers filled with computers demanding huge amounts of energy, water, and raw minerals, fueling a trillion-dollar industrial revolution described as “the biggest infrastructure project in history. ” This expansion leaves visible scars on the earth, and the growing environmental impacts are already affecting people’s lives. Numerous accounts describe devastating losses: destroyed homes, livelihoods, and communities. Spruce Pine, a small town in North Carolina, plays a hidden but critical role in the A. I. supply chain. Located atop the world’s main source of high-purity quartz—a crucial mineral where up to 90% of the global supply is mined—Spruce Pine’s ancient pegmatite deposits formed about 300 million years ago. This quartz is shipped to China and Taiwan for manufacturing semiconductor microchips, the components essential for running A. I. models which require massive power and water resources—needs expected to surge dramatically over the next decade. Elon Musk’s A. I. company, xAI, built the world’s largest A. I. supercomputer, Colossus, in South Memphis, where local power grids couldn’t meet its energy demands. As a result, methane gas generators were installed, emitting harmful pollutants into a historically Black community, sparking calls for fines and investigations. Elsewhere, data centers already consume over a quarter of Virginia’s electricity, driving up utility bills, increasing pollution, straining water supplies, and causing environmental and social challenges. Globally, data centers are projected to consume as much energy as Japan now and match India’s use by 2030—effectively adding an entire industrial nation’s demand to the grid. Rather than curbing environmental harm, investment in A. I. infrastructure is accelerating.

The American company Stargate plans to invest at least $500 billion in such projects, and following the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, sprawling data centers like OpenAI’s Project Ludicrous in Texas—larger than Central Park—are being built, with at least 20 planned nationwide. This rapid expansion competes for limited resources—power, water, and land—driving up carbon emissions and utility costs. Tragically, the consequences are already evident. Days after a visit to Spruce Pine, Hurricane Helene, the deadliest U. S. hurricane since Katrina, devastated the region, killing over 200 people, contaminating rivers with sewage and mining waste, and destroying homes and infrastructure. While no single hurricane can be solely blamed on climate change, the science is clear that global warming generates more dangerous and frequent storms, hitting regions unaccustomed to such severity. Although some tech leaders claim A. I. will solve climate change in the future, today it worsens the crisis. Yet, this trajectory is not unavoidable. A. I. can benefit society broadly or serve only a privileged few. Washington’s current policies favor rapid industrial expansion, but ultimately, local communities must rise to protect their environment. Sustainable technological progress requires balancing innovation with stewardship; otherwise, it risks mortgaging the future instead of securing it.