In the race to keep up with the AI boom, Britain is set to increase its number of data centres by one fifth. But little consideration has been given, particularly by Starmer’s Labour government, toward the impact of this increase on the climate.
By Matt Hirst
Each data centre contains thousands of powerful computers and servers. From the huge carbon footprint that will be spent on building these massive warehouses, to the vast amounts of water and energy they will need, it is essential that socialists map out a clear position on this issue and the way it impacts our class and the environment.
Before the recent AI boom, computer servers could be cooled by using simple fan cooling systems. However, due to the increase in the technological power of the servers using some of the most highly developed semiconductor chips, this is now insufficient. AI data centres now require water-based cooling systems.
This is hugely inefficient, as up to 80% of water evaporates during the cooling process. Due to the delicate nature of the chips, this water must be clean and bacteria-free – i.e., drinking water – which places huge demands on an already creaking water infrastructure system. Together, the impact of climate change, underinvestment, and privatisation has left our water infrastructure extremely weakened, with droughts taking place in six of the last 15 years.
Collapsing energy grids
Alongside the unsustainable wastage of water, which would likely see a rise in bills as water companies try to keep up with rising demand, the energy grid would also be impacted. In Ireland, where many of these data centres have already been set up, working-class people have reported blackouts to their domestic supply.
This has resulted in numerous protests that pushed Dublin Council to impose a moratorium on the building of data centres in the city. Across the US, $64 billion of data centre projects have been blocked or delayed because of local opposition.
But such is the parasitic nature of capitalism, where companies find more extreme and dangerous ways to power data centres. Last year, Microsoft purchased the Three Mile Island nuclear plant – the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history – and plans to reopen it in 2028 to power their data centres.
On an economic level, the increased use of AI, far from creating new tech jobs, has actually seen many tech sectors like cloud, web search, and computer systems design stop growing at the end of 2022, just after the release of ChatGPT. Job growth across several white-collar sectors has also been slowing, pointing to AI’s growing role in the workplace.
Democratic workers’ control of tech and energy
Socialists are not opposed to technology or to any advances that, in theory, should make our working lives more bearable. Rather, we consider its material impact on the planet and the interests of our class as a force for changing society.
Under capitalism, a system where profits are put before the needs of the working class and the future of the planet itself, we will never experience the full potential benefits of such advances. It doesn’t have to be like this. Instead of destroying the planet, we could nationalise water, energy, and tech sectors under democratic workers’ control. Any new power generation must come from climate-friendly technology, such as closed-loop water systems which cool down data centres with less impact on the planet.
AI must be made to work for workers, not for the profit-driven capitalists. It could be used to reduce workloads, not the workforce, with no loss of pay. It could shorten the working week by reducing dull, repetitive work, freeing workers up in their daily lives.
This requires rational planning of the economy, so that society is run for the billions, not the billionaires.
