Innovations related to artificial intelligence are already changing our lives, and in the foreseeable future they promise many revolutionary transformations.
At the same time, growing dissatisfaction worldwide is being fueled by the current behavior of technological oligarchs. In the United States, harsh criticism followed Tesla’s board decision to raise Elon Musk’s compensation for the next 10 years to $1 trillion: newspapers quickly calculated that he would receive $100 billion per year — $3 billion more than the combined salaries of 1.5 million elementary school teachers across the US. Meanwhile, his net worth as the world’s richest person already stands at $450 billion.
Speaking on November 19 in Washington at the US–Saudi investment forum, Elon Musk predicted that artificial intelligence and humanoid robots will transform society over the next 10–20 years: work will become optional, poverty will disappear, and money will no longer matter. “Essentially, there is only one way to make everyone rich — artificial intelligence and robotics,” he said.
Many people are irritated by the constant claims of these tech magnates that they provide an enormous service to humanity and that people should be “immeasurably grateful” to them. Here is what the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat wrote on November 20 in an article titled “Billionaires Mock Our Intelligence”: “The world’s billionaires have shifted from intellect to foolish cunning, trying to convince us that they have the solution to all the disasters they themselves are causing.” Their main goal, however, is to advance their investment projects — even if that means putting humanity at risk.
The “Dark Side” of AI
While environmental activists sound the alarm about the enormous consumption of electricity and water needed to operate and develop artificial intelligence — which aims to make it a tool radically transforming human life — the planet’s billionaires are proposing solutions that can only be described as absurd or surreal.
AI, still in its infancy, consumes 2% of global electricity; in the United States, it accounts for 4%, even though the country already suffers from power shortages and demand is expected to surge sharply within just three years. Several states have already experienced grid failures.
Data centers consume as much electricity in one year as homes in Lebanon would use in 50 years. A single center consumes enough power to supply 100 million households for a year. In addition, each center requires huge amounts of water for cooling — between 3 and 5 million gallons per day.
Demand for water and electricity is expected to double within five years as AI expands. Servers will run around the clock, consuming water in regions that will eventually suffer from severe shortages.
Chile is a grim example of what awaits many countries. Obsessed with data centers and the desire to be a leader, the country is horrifying its own citizens. It has allowed Google to consume 50 liters of water per second for cooling its facilities, free of charge. American tech giants plan to build nearly a hundred data centers there, foreshadowing ecological disasters for Chileans.
Servers of tech giants cool themselves daily with enough water to irrigate thousands of acres of farmland. Attempts are being made to increase data center efficiency and curb their insatiable appetite — but humanity’s greed for information and the obsessive technological race make developers far less concerned about the looming specter of drought. Profit, fame, and victory come first.
A Vile Form of Hypocrisy
To calm public opinion, the world’s wealthiest — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — are proposing to move the entire AI infrastructure to the Moon: there is no sunlight, no clouds, and no environmental organizations to protest. One cannot help but recall the two American astronauts who went on an eight-day mission but ended up stuck in orbit for nine months due to a malfunction. How can one believe that someone who failed to bring back two people will transport tons of complex equipment, operators, and monitors to the Moon?
Musk’s incredible suggestion that Earth could be cooled by placing AI-controlled satellites around the planet to reduce solar heat was abandoned only after experts convincingly argued that blocking sunlight could trigger a drastic drop in global temperatures.
Attempts by oligarchs to portray their supposedly invaluable services as if they fall from the sky, showering us with free gifts, are a vile form of hypocrisy — waiting for the moment when the full scale of catastrophe becomes visible. No one has the right to risk the survival of Earth while the culprits ignore their critics and treat them like fools.
The New York Times on November 18 sharply criticized Musk’s recent statement that robots could eliminate poverty and perform surgeries better than human doctors: using AI and robotics, he said, the global economy could grow tenfold or even hundredfold — he kept boasting that there was no limit. Condemning these remarks, the newspaper concluded that laws must be developed to regulate the behavior of the ultra-rich. “These outrages would end much sooner if more Americans realized what Trump and Musk are doing: they are opening a new era of brazenness that will last as long as people believe their hype and applaud their performative audacity.”
Even in the United States, President Trump’s attempt to prohibit states from regulating AI has met resistance from Republicans — senators and House members alike — who fear that rapid AI expansion could undermine the party’s populist appeal. Increasingly loud voices are calling to protect Americans from job losses caused by automation, safeguard teenagers from harm inflicted by chatbots, and restrain the sharp spikes in utility bills linked to energy-hungry data centers.
Mohammed Amer, Syrian publicist
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