Data Centres, AI, and the Feeling That Ordinary People Are Being Left Behind-Part 1

 Data Centres, AI, and the Feeling That Ordinary People Are Being Left Behind

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

There’s a strange feeling growing in British Columbia right now.

You can feel it in conversations on the bus, in coffee shops, on social media, and in the exhausted expressions of people already struggling to survive in one of the most expensive places in Canada.

And now we’re hearing about massive AI data centres being planned for BC.

Three large ones.

The politicians and corporations speak about them as if they are symbols of progress — innovation, economic growth, “the future.”

But many ordinary people are looking around and asking a very different question:

Whose future?

Because for years, citizens have been told:

• conserve electricity
• take shorter showers
• accept rising costs
• prepare for climate emergencies
• expect sacrifices

Meanwhile, some of the largest corporations on Earth are preparing to build facilities that consume staggering amounts of power and water.

AI systems do not live in “the cloud.” They live in giant warehouses filled with servers, cooling systems, backup power, and industrial infrastructure.

And those facilities require enormous energy.

In British Columbia, this conversation hits differently.

People here already understand what happens when governments and investors see BC primarily as a resource.

We’ve watched housing become an investment vehicle instead of shelter. We’ve watched communities transformed by speculation. We’ve watched ordinary workers pushed farther and farther from the places they grew up.

Many people still trace part of that transformation back to Expo 86 and the wave of development and global investment that followed.

Now another transformation may be beginning — this time powered by artificial intelligence.

Supporters say the projects will create jobs and position Canada competitively in the global AI race.

Maybe they will.

But citizens have learned to ask harder questions:

• Who benefits long term?
• Who pays for infrastructure upgrades?
• Will hydro rates increase?
• Will local communities actually have a say?
• What environmental costs are being hidden behind glossy press releases?
• What happens if electricity demand explodes during climate emergencies?

And perhaps most importantly:

What kind of society are we building if human beings are increasingly treated as less important than machines, investors, and endless economic growth?

There’s another uncomfortable layer to this discussion too.

Many writers, artists, photographers, and creators already feel pushed aside by the rapid expansion of AI technologies.

Some spent years creating original work, books, photography, blogs, music, and ideas — often with very little financial support or recognition.

Now suddenly billions of dollars appear almost overnight for machine infrastructure.

That disconnect is emotional as much as economic.

People are tired of hearing there’s “no money” for affordable housing, mental health care, seniors, disability support, public transit, or environmental protection… while massive industrial AI expansion moves forward at high speed.

None of this means technology itself is evil.

But history shows that when societies rush toward technological revolutions without public discussion, accountability, or ethical limits, ordinary people often absorb the consequences later.

British Columbia deserves a real public conversation before irreversible decisions are made behind closed doors.

Because once the land is transformed, the power infrastructure expanded, and the corporate agreements signed, it becomes much harder to ask questions afterward.

And maybe that’s why so many people feel uneasy right now.

Not because they fear the future.

But because they fear being excluded from it.

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