Dear Editor,
AI represents the biggest advance in information technology since the smartphone. Already, it has had a profound impact, and looks set to transform our world – for better and for worse.
Across the country, Silicon Valley CEOs and developers have pushed data centers and AI cameras – increasingly against the will of local communities and governments.
Some might argue in favor of these projects. Data centers, they say, can improve the tax base, paying taxes into local budgets. AI cameras, they say, like those run by Flock, can help police solve crimes.
But is that worth the price we pay out of our pockets and our privacy?
Data centers use huge amounts of water and electricity to empower cameras like Flock’s. Right in Lowell, the controversial Markley data center uses huge amounts of water and power each day – with little reward for the community except pollution. That water and power doesn’t go to new homes or businesses – but to serve Silicon Valley profits.
AI cameras like those sold and operated by Flock, meanwhile, not only infringe on individual freedom, but also produce false positives. In Colorado, for example, police recently falsely accused a woman of stealing packages because of a mistake by the camera’s license reader. The AI’s “innocent mistake” could happen to any of us.
Indeed, Flock and other AI cameras turn all of us into potential criminals, logging our plates, the color and make of our cars – just for the crime of driving to Market Basket.
As discussed in these pages previously, Wilmington can and should get ahead of this. Certainly data centers should be explicitly banned – but so should all AI-powered automatic license plate readers.
In the words of Ben Franklin, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Warmly,
Nick Golden
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