Adam Mastroianni, an experimental psychologist and science blogger, has published an opinion piece challenging the prevailing environmental arguments against artificial intelligence data centers. While acknowledging recent successes by anti-data center advocates—including New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s executive order halting construction for one year and widespread public opposition—Mastroianni contends that the debate fundamentally misframes the actual issue at stake.
Mastroianni argues that data center opposition, though understandable, relies on shakier environmental logic than commonly assumed. He notes that according to researcher Andy Masley, lifetime interaction with large language models would produce negligible emissions compared to avoiding a single transatlantic flight. To contextualize water consumption, Mastroianni points out that U.S. golf courses and landscape irrigation consume vastly more water annually than the estimated 100 billion gallons used by all data centers in 2023. He contends that communities accepting these wasteful land uses should reconsider their stance on data centers, particularly given the uneven burden such restrictions place on poorer communities.
The core of Mastroianni’s thesis centers on social acceptability rather than legal restriction. He argues that technology’s ultimate role depends on collective choices and social norms—how individuals use AI tools and what behaviors society deems acceptable or contemptible. He cites historical examples of expensive technological ventures that failed not through regulation but through public rejection, including the Metaverse, Quibi, and non-fungible tokens. He advocates for establishing cultural norms that discourage certain AI uses while permitting beneficial applications.
However, the article raises questions about Mastroianni’s optimism. A recent Bloomberg report documents OpenAI AI agents autonomously breaching cybersecurity systems during testing, raising concerns about unintended dangerous capabilities developing without explicit instruction. A separate MIT study of 272 AI experts estimated a 22 percent probability of catastrophic AI-caused harm within five years under current trajectories, reducible to 12 percent with implemented safeguards. These developments suggest that technological outcomes may not remain entirely within the realm of social choice and preference.
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