Labor, AI, and the Humans of Circles USA, Pt. 2: Some Numbers
Updated: 1 day ago
By Amy Brooks
Circles USA Content Writer & Editor
Disclaimer: This column reflects the values and opinions of one independent worker, and does not necessarily reflect the policies of Circles USA as an organization. We remain committed to platforming a variety of viewpoints on the technology, culture, and other issues that affect the lives of CUSA members everywhere. We invite you to share your opinion on AI and labor with us at circles@circlesusa.org.
In the first part of our special Labor Week series, I shared a story and asked: What can my home state’s labor history suggest about potential pros, cons, and community impacts of AI data centers? And what might that technology mean for working people and families everywhere? Below, I’ll share a few current facts about AI and data centers, their costs and impact, and other information the Circles USA network might consider to make wise decisions for workers across our community of practice.
How much do US workers know about AI, and where do we stand today?
The Pew Research Center, in their 2026 paper How Americans view data centers’ impact in key areas, from the environment to jobs, paints a nuanced picture of what workers know and how we feel about AI data centers. In their words:
Three-quarters of Americans say they’ve heard or read a lot (25%) or a little (50%) about data centers. The remaining 25% say they have heard nothing at all about them.
More Americans say data centers have a negative effect on the environment, home energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby than say they have a positive effect. Far more say data centers are mostly bad than good for the environment (39% vs. 4%), home energy costs (38% vs. 6%) and the quality of life for those nearby (30% vs. 6%).
In contrast, Americans are more likely to see positive than negative effects on local jobs and local tax revenue. More adults say data centers are mostly good than bad for local jobs (25% vs. 15%) and local tax revenue (23% vs. 12%). Still, Americans are less likely to express positive views of data centers’ impact in these areas than to express negative views of their effects on the environment, energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby.
For many Americans, the jury’s still out. Around one-in-five Americans or more say they aren’t sure of data centers’ impact in each of the five areas we asked about. Others say these facilities have neither a positive nor negative impact in each area or haven’t heard about data centers at all.
Public health and the environment
In their recent study Data Centers, Pollution, and the Communities Left Behind, UChicago Sustainability Dialogue reports: “In 2025, data centers consumed hundreds of billions of gallons of water for cooling and power generation. Developers are now tapping local rivers, aquifers, and municipal supplies at unprecedented rates to satisfy the thirst of data centers, putting the communities that host them at risk”—communities like my Appalachian hometown. The UChicago report continues:
Data center operations still rely heavily on fossil fuels, emitting air pollutants and fine particulates that raise serious public health risks, especially asthma. Meanwhile, chemical runoff from cooling systems contaminates soil and waterways…These facilities create real environmental challenges and are too often sited and strategically chosen in already vulnerable places. As AI demand surges, the need for more facilities will only grow.
Canton, Mississippi, “a majority Black town long marked by underinvestment,” was the chosen site for one such facility, a $10B Amazon AI data center opened in 2025. Proponents of this massive industrial “golden goose” promised 1,000 jobs. “Yet within months,” UChicago finds,
…residents began reporting lung irritation, breathing difficulties, and construction dust that settled over homes and playgrounds. Cooling towers pull millions of gallons of water daily from the already-stressed Big Black River system, while weekly tests of backup diesel generators spike local NOx levels and worsen the area’s elevated childhood asthma rates. “We were promised prosperity, but got poisoned air and vanishing water,” said local activist Maria Gonzalez. Community outrage led to a class-action lawsuit filed in February 2026 alleging Clean Water Act violations; expansions have been halted pending independent audits. [Source]
More figures on the environmental harms of data centers from Fortune’s study Data centers are dealing hidden damage to environmental and public health—costing the economy $25 billion every year: A Carnegie Mellon University researcher named Nicholas Muller “tracked data centers’ electricity needs last year and found how much air pollution and additional planet-warming greenhouse gases local grids generated to supply that demand,” and their impact on human life expectancy. Muller found that data centers’ “inhalable particulate matter can carry severe health risks for local communities, including lung disease, heart conditions, and in some cases higher rates of premature mortality.” And the price tag is economic as well as physical:
[D]ata centers’ environmental damage last year cost the economy at large $25 billion, of which $3.7 billion is directly tied to AI activities in data centers. This price tag represents an externality—an indirect consequence of economic activity that imposes costs on third parties not directly involved in the original activity. Rather than reflecting an increase in day-to-day medical expenses or higher taxes to subsidize a greater need for care, Muller’s analysis boils down the cost of premature deaths tied to the environmental impact of data centers, assigning an economic value to the resulting shortened life expectancy.
Autonomous weapons, warfare, and “rogue” agents
Beyond data centers’ harm to our physical health and ecosystems, what are the risks we assume with unchecked development of still-uncontrollable, autonomous weapons of war? For every promotional article on AI assisting neurosurgeries or beating sprinters’ land speed records (okay, so maybe that robot had more artificial legs than intelligence), we have warnings like this one from the United Nations which confirms that AI is already in wide use in US military combat and strategy. Current and projected applications include target analysis, strike recommendations, identification of individuals, autonomous navigation, defensive systems, and ground robotics. “AI can enhance efficiency,” the UN Secretary-General warns, “but without rigorous safeguards, it risks undermining international humanitarian law… Human control and judgment must be preserved in every use of force.” But we’re nowhere near that benchmark. US autonomous weapons development is outpacing our AI regulation by a wider margin than that robot lapping Usain Bolt. And AI agents are growing less obedient to human users’ commands—not more.
AI worker replacement by gender: women bear higher costs
Meanwhile, according to the International Labour Organization, worrying about being replaced by AI isn’t personal paranoia. For some of us, it’s a statistical reality. In their article New ILO data confirm women face higher workplace risks from generative AI than men, “a new report finds that women face higher risks, as they are concentrated in tasks more prone to automation and remain underrepresented in technology and science fields.” ILO’s data reveals that “[a]cross countries with available data, occupations dominated by women are almost twice as likely to be exposed to GenAI as male-dominated ones.” What’s more,
Around 29 per cent of female-dominated occupations are exposed to GenAI, compared to just 16 per cent of male-dominated occupations. The difference is even starker when looking at high automation risk: 16 per cent of female-dominated occupations fall into the highest exposure categories, compared to only 3 per cent of male-dominated ones.
As of our 2025 Impact Report, Circles USA’s membership, including staff, comprises 85% women.
AI data centers: a growing bipartisan consensus
Where does all this leave us as workers? Despite what certain accelerationist billionaires would have us believe, OG tech lord Bill Gates believes we still have the power to decide.
What’s more, the national pushback against unregulated data center construction is more of a bipartisan effort than you might guess. The Guardian US reported in August that “[t]he datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires.” The outlet cites survey results showing that “three-quarters of Americans oppose local datacenter development, a swing of more than 30 points in just a year. More than 500 counties and municipalities have passed datacenter bans or moratoria, while dozens of proposed projects have been killed outright.”
One Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) worker in Indiana reports that “we’re seeing broad concern from Republicans, Democrats and everyone else on the political spectrum. We’re seeing folks saying, ‘Hey, I might be a Maga Republican and you might be a liberal yahoo from the big city, but if you’re coming to our community to help us fight this datacenter, you’re my best friend.’”
This bipartisan effort to protect workers’ health and humanity is a familiar theme for Circles USA. Reaching across silos of economic, political, and geographic difference to change policy is more than a Big View practice for us. It’s the cornerstone of every Circle Leader-Ally relationship. And that relationship is foundational to what CUSA does in chapters, neighborhoods, institutions, and entire regions—so foundational that no computer or code, however advanced, could ever replicate its effects.
From our Circles USA family to yours: Work hard, be good, and take care of your fellow human beings!
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