Artificial intelligence and the infrastructure needed to support it are developing quickly, but Alaska has done little to prepare for the consequences.
In two recent opinion pieces, longtime Northern Alaska Environmental Center member and Issues Committee member Roger Kaye examines both sides of this growing issue: the physical impacts of large data centers and the need for stronger public oversight of artificial intelligence.
In his Anchorage Daily News commentary, Opinion-Before-Alaska-becomes-an-AI-data-farm-be-sure-to-read-the-fine-print.docx Roger argues that Alaska should take a well-informed, transparent and cautious approach before approving large data center projects. Data centers house the servers and computing infrastructure that power artificial intelligence and other digital services, but their impacts extend well beyond the buildings themselves.
Large, hyperscale facilities can require enormous amounts of electricity, water and supporting infrastructure. Roger notes that these developments could place additional strain on Alaska’s electrical grid, raise costs for existing ratepayers, increase fossil-fuel consumption and generate electronic waste. Although data centers may create construction jobs, they generally require far fewer permanent employees once operating.
The piece calls for safeguards to ensure that data center developers—not households and local businesses—pay the costs of new power generation, transmission upgrades and other infrastructure. It also recommends requiring developers to minimize water use, prevent thermal pollution, reuse waste heat when possible, support clean energy development and prioritize local hiring and workforce training.
Roger’s second piece, Alaska-is-Falling-Way-behind-on-AI—Heres-What-We-Can-Do.docx looks beyond the physical facilities to the technology they support. While other states have adopted laws addressing algorithmic discrimination, political deepfakes, chatbot safety, privacy and surveillance, Alaska has developed few comparable protections.
The Alaska Legislature considered creating an artificial intelligence task force through House Concurrent Resolution 3, but the proposal stalled. Roger argues that the need for research and public policy has only become more urgent. He highlights a proposed University of Alaska Fairbanks research program that would bring together computer science, public policy, ethics and data-center research to examine how AI should be governed in Alaska.
Importantly, Roger explains that AI and data centers cannot be treated as separate issues. Growing AI use creates demand for additional computing capacity, while new data centers enable even greater AI expansion. The impacts become local through electricity consumption, water use, land development, public subsidies and effects on nearby communities.
Alaska does not need to copy another state’s policies. Our remote communities, energy systems, industries and geography require solutions designed for Alaska. But doing nothing would leave major decisions about our economy, resources, privacy and communities largely in the hands of technology companies.
The Northern Alaska Environmental Center supports careful research, meaningful public participation and clear safeguards before Alaska commits public resources or community infrastructure to major data center developments. Roger’s work is an important contribution to that conversation, and a reminder that Alaskans should have a voice in determining how these technologies develop in our state.
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