By Monica Talan, Partner
Every day, we wake up to headlines about AI’s potential harm: jobs lost, cybersecurity threats, misinformation, social isolation, and systems that may become difficult to control.
But one of the biggest communications challenges facing the AI industry is much closer to home: it’s local.
The issue came into sharper focus for me in February, when TIME published “The People vs. AI,” a cover story about the growing backlash against the industry. Though the people profiled had different concerns and political backgrounds, they were responding to the same problem: AI companies were making decisions that impacted their lives without giving them enough information about what was happening or how it would affect them.
AI does not exist only in models, headlines, or forecasts. It runs in data centers that consume electricity and water, reshape neighborhoods, and affect public infrastructure. People living near those facilities are asking practical questions.
How much water will a data center use? Who will pay for grid upgrades? How many jobs will it create? What will happen to utility costs, housing, land, and public services?
Too often, the answers are buried in technical documents. And in many cases, the answers are difficult to find or not publicly available.
When companies respond with general statements about innovation, efficiency, or economic growth, they create more distrust. People are asking what a project will mean for their community and need specific answers.
The US-VISIT Lesson
I saw this while working on the rollout of the US-VISIT program. The program faced hurdles and backlash from local communities. The turning point came when we focused on listening to the concerns and addressing them directly. These one-on-one conversations with local elected officials and stakeholder meetings completely changed the narrative.
That experience offers a useful lesson for the AI industry. Communities need to understand how a major project will affect the places where they live. They need a clear explanation and transparency.
A project should also share the information needed to evaluate its impact:
Actual and projected electricity use, including peak demand
Water sources, withdrawals, consumption, and discharge
Emissions from construction, operations, backup power, and purchased electricity
Expected effects on roads, utilities, housing, and public services
Local hiring, tax contributions, and economic benefits
Plans for drought, grid stress, equipment failure, and other disruptions
Noise impact assessments.
The numbers should be easy to find and easy to understand. For example, water reporting should explain where the water comes from, whether it is potable, recycled, or reclaimed, and how the facility uses it for cooling. Companies should also report how much water is recirculated, what steps they take to reduce consumption, and how use changes under average and peak conditions.
Data center operators should explain what a project will contribute locally. That could include jobs, public investment, improved infrastructure, or other tangible benefits that are specific, measurable, and connected to the concerns people have already raised.
The industry should also establish common reporting standards that define what companies must disclose, how they calculate it, and where they publish it.
Communities should not have to compare incompatible numbers buried across technical filings and corporate reports. The information should be available in one public, searchable place.
Start the Conversation Earlier
Public engagement needs to begin before major decisions are made. A single town hall or contact form does not give residents a meaningful role.
People need access to decision-makers, clear response timelines, and a way to challenge incomplete or inaccurate information. They also need to know which concerns can influence the project and which decisions have already been made.
Large infrastructure projects will involve tradeoffs. Residents are more likely to engage with those tradeoffs when companies explain them clearly and show how the local benefits will be delivered.
Ultimately a data center is not just a building that supports an online service. It becomes part of a local economy, a local utility system, and a local political conversation.
The industry needs to explain what AI requires in physical terms and what that will mean for the communities hosting it.