Give citizens a voice in AI investments

OPINION:

A NIMBY movement on artificial intelligence is sweeping the country.

The rapid development of AI data centers has triggered a backlash as Americans protest the impact on their water resources, electricity and quality of life. The governor of Texas recently halted new data center connections to the power grid pending an assessment of energy and water impacts.

AI is a transformative technology, as shown in the rapid growth of manufacturing industries tied to it, so we must find ways to resolve these conflicts.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is widely accessible to citizens, illustrates how AI can distribute benefits broadly. Unlike a physical resource, AI-generated information can be shared widely without diminishing its value to other users. However, the construction of a data center can have a major impact on a local community, with both benefits and costs.

Costs include the increased demand for public infrastructure, such as water, electricity and roads. Benefits include more jobs, economic development and a larger tax base to fund public services.

Federal and state governments should tout the external benefits of AI centers that accrue to all citizens. The state can offer subsidies and tax benefits to AI firms willing to invest there.

The Trump administration has also pursued policies designed to promote AI firms and keep the U.S. at the forefront of the technology.

Protests against AI reflect the desire in some communities to preserve a traditional quality of life. This is a classic public choice problem in which the benefits are spread among a large group but the costs are imposed on a small one.

Americans living in cities affected by AI data centers should have a voice in decisions about where to build these centers. They can best exercise this voice by petitioning their local governments.

A petition campaign would require a majority vote approval of a ballot measure to approve the data center. The ballot measure should explain how a data center would affect the local community and how the local government would meet the increased demand for public services.

If the local government must increase taxes or debt to fund these improvements, it should be spelled out in the ballot measure and require community approval. The measure should also make clear how much of the cost would be borne by the AI company and how much by the community.

It is then up to AI firms to weigh the costs and benefits of investing in a particular community. Many AI firms have chosen to invest in Texas, which has one of the best business tax climates in the country. Other states, such as California, have pursued policies to deter investment by AI and other high-technology firms, and some of them have moved to Texas, taking their economic benefits with them.

There is a revolt against AI in Texas and other states. Willie Nelson has spoken out against the construction of AI data centers in rural Texas, including near his hometown of Abbott. However, others in Texas welcome the jobs and economic development that AI firms create when they invest in data centers.

The challenge is to give all citizens a voice in AI investments.

Not all citizens have the right to petition their government. Texas is one of 24 states that do not allow residents to place citizen initiatives on the state ballot. Texans have the right to vote on referendums to amend the state constitution, but those are placed on the ballot by state legislators.

Although Texans have the right to petition their local governments, the right is circumscribed by state law. Residents are prohibited from petitioning local governments on issues involving property rights, such as zoning restrictions.

Texans can petition their local governments only in home-rule cities, which make up just 29% of the state’s cities. Non-home-rule cities are primarily in rural areas, and AI firms put data centers in these communities in part because they face less resistance to these investments.

The right to petition is granted to all citizens in the First and 14th amendments to the Constitution. Texans should have the right to petition both their state and local governments on AI and other issues. With this right, we should expect that some communities will welcome AI investments because the benefits of more jobs and economic development outweigh the costs.

Americans in urban communities, meanwhile, are likely to vote to restrict such investments because of their negative impacts.

Other countries, such as Switzerland, grant citizens the right to petition their government on a variety of issues. It is time for the U.S. to give citizens a voice in AI investments and other issues affecting their prosperity.

• Barry W. Poulson is professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and on the board of the Prosperity for US Foundation.