Recently I started calling my friends out for their AI flyers. They all look the same; they’re diluting their brand, and most importantly, they’re wreaking havoc on the environment and poor communities in the United States. Americans’ individualistic views get in the way of progress and accountability, and the billionaires know this.

Elon Musk’s Grok AI data center in Memphis is facing legal battles for using methane gas turbines and polluting the air, among other allegations. Meta is also facing legal issues as they try to build out their AI data infrastructure across the country. It’s not just the water and the air that people are worried about; it’s also about the price of electricity increasing for consumers. Year after year, Pennsylvania consumers see a hike in their electricity rates, and experts warn that the more data centers that want to connect to an already struggling grid, the more money everyday consumers are going to have to shell out for the electric bill. Let’s not even get started on the insane way that these AI data centers disregard the land they’re intruding on. In both Georgia and Virginia, developers were met with outrage when they wanted to build their AI data center on unmarked graves of enslaved people. That sounds like a no-brainer, but when all you can see is green, I guess developers go beyond what a DC villain would do.

So, so far, AI data centers are wreaking havoc on the air and water in poor communities, they’re increasing our electricity bills and straining our grid, and they’re encroaching on sacred land.

Yikes!

Notice I said AI data centers. Data centers have been around since the 1970s. Traditional data centers weren’t nearly as massive or draining as today’s data centers that require power, water, and chips to run. Traditional data centers just needed to be air-conditioned and didn’t require water or advanced cooling measures. Traditional data centers didn’t need all of our water to Google how to make pizza sauce, and it gave us the correct answer, unlike Google’s AI, which told people that they needed glue to make sauce for months. Just wasting ingredients, water, and people’s time.

Well, my flyer isn’t affecting the environment. Imagine if 50 percent of the country said this all together, and then imagine if they said the opposite. Leaning into AI so quickly without the want or need to hold tech Bros accountable is also helping increase your own electric rates, pollute poor communities, and give the AI tech Bros leverage on why they need the land to build more AI data centers in irresponsible ways.

In some countries, AI data centers are not allowed to use the consumer grid to power these massive centers. They’re probably gawking at the thought of the AI data center asking electricity companies to prioritize them in blackout situations. In China, they cool their AI data centers underwater and scoff at us using drinkable water. Just like Gen Z is largely anti-AI, as studies show them shunning it because the harm does not outweigh the good. Your flyer will look like everyone else’s, and you wasted bottles of drinkable water in a time when bodies of water in the United States are drying up for something you could’ve uniquely attempted for free in Canva.

I remember when Photoshop first released. I liked it. I didn’t like it more than Jasc Paintshop Pro (now Corel). I used to write tutorials for people on how to animate and use Paintshop, and it’s been over 20 years. I still have Paintshop for the harder, more intricate projects. I used Photoshop when I helped with a Dance Moms booklet. If I can’t figure out how to get my vision onto the screen, I don’t ask Chat; I ask another creative person (my boyfriend who went to school for art).

When I saw people complaining about AI art, the biggest complaint was affordability and access to artists. I offered to make people flyers for $25 a flyer with a 48 hour-turnaround and people took me up on that offer and continue to do so. Hiring a human to make your graphics ensures that you stand out from a pack of robots. You hired someone who still has a bit of critical thinking skills and knows that the average person is glancing at the flyer and doesn’t want to go on a scavenger hunt to find the location and time of your event.

Sure, you saved time with your AI flyer, but it costs a Black Community water, their clean air, and even somebody’s land. Let’s not even go into the studies about what it’s doing to people’s critical thinking skills. But if you want a human-made flyer for an affordable price of $25 American Dollars in less than 48 hours, inbox me, email me (imjustdae@gmail.com), check out my portfolio and fill out the form, and I got you. Let’s save some brain cells, air quality, and water while we have them. Hire a human artist.

This is just touching the surface of issues with American AI infrastructure. We haven’t talked about the biases in AI or the dangers of implementing it without a use case. Ethics and leadership was my favorite college course and the ethics or lack of ethics behind AI could be its own blog post. I’m not anti-AI, I love that AI is being used for medical advancements that we never thought was possible but every day AI use to ask it questions about your relationship, or hiring a $58,000 AI bot to be a teaching aid, just doesn’t outweigh the pollution or the increase in electricity rates..

Check out my portfolio to see why you should hire a human.