Lacombe town hall turns heated as residents voice AI data centre concerns

“Data centres are nothing new; they’ve been around for almost 30 years. Everything on the internet and through your mobile phone is run through a data centre,” Glubish said.

The minister simplified data centres, calling them large rooms full of computers that process digital transactions and store digital information.

Glubish said we’ve entered an age where software is being run in a data centre, in addition to information being stored.

“With the advancement of AI, this is the next iteration of data centres; it’s still the same technology it’s still just a big warehouse full of computers. They’re just more powerful, can process faster, and require more electricity to do what they do,” he added.

He explained that a lot of the attention on data centres now is because they are now becoming big enough that people are noticing them more often and are unfamiliar with AI.

The Minister compared the facilities to oil refineries, calling them digital refineries. He said there is a global demand for digital services and every country in the world needs it, but not every country has the electricity that can power the infrastructure.

“By building data centre infrastructure responsibly, we are essentially building digital refineries and digital pipelines and creating a massive new market for Alberta natural gas,” Glubish said.

New jobs will be created in rural Alberta in the oil and gas sector, and there will be a new domestic demand for gas, according to Glubish.

He shared a couple of stories used within his ministry that exemplify the power of what AI can do. He said an employee needed to go through 1,500 contracts, most of which are 300-400 pages long, and go line by line and map them into their software systems.

This would have taken approximately 15 months, but instead he developed a new AI software system that was approved within days and completed the job in two minutes.

“Even if you don’t use AI, I can promise you, you will benefit from AI’s use,” he added.

Resident concerns

Residents from all over central Alberta raised concerns over a variety of issues, including environmental impacts like water consumption, location of these centres, pollution, job security, and an overall lack of trust in the government’s ability to regulate the facilities.

There were also fears of making similar mistakes as other countries that have built these facilities and fears of further government surveillance and weaponizing data.

One Olds, Alta. resident explained the Synapse Data Centre application, which was recently rejected by the Alberta Utilities Commission, has hijacked eight months of her life.

She said the government failed to put safeguards in place over the last two years for communities. She said there are no rules or regulations to protect communities.

She said citizens of Olds were under “psychological warfare” throughout the Alberta Utilities Commission process and have been fed up with the government’s lack of transparency.

Glubish acknowledged that it shouldn’t have taken this long for the citizens to get the answers they were hoping for.

A Red Deerian claimed that China had built many data centres and now half of them are decommissioned. She questioned what protections taxpayers have if these projects are abandoned in the future.

Glubish said China has been aggressive in building these facilities because there’s been a fight for technological supremacy among countries. However, he said Alberta’s government doesn’t plan to go about it the same way. He wants to ensure Alberta has the strongest technology while protecting our way of life.

One Albertan said the mass building of AI data centres is a threat to human autonomy and said they are designed to “weaponize human data.” She also said the energy consumption is a concern.

In terms of privacy, Glubish said there is legislation in place to protect Canadians’ data.

“The fact that these data centres might be built doesn’t mean they have access to everybody’s data,” he said.

One person argued that the government doesn’t have the ability to handle the threats that AI poses. He said AI lowers IQ and harms personal autonomy.

Glubish said if used incorrectly, those outcomes can happen, but argued that people in the past said the same things about computers and calculators when they were first introduced.

“If we become dependent on things then we will become weaker, but that doesn’t mean the tool itself is objectively bad,” Glubish said.

One resident said that she doesn’t trust Glubish. She expressed that what he feels is best for Albertans is not reality and that he’s only focused on the financial benefit.

She also said that if a data centre project is planned for the Lacombe region in the future, the government “better put some boxing gloves on.”

Glubish said that the government’s plan is meant to ensure only responsible infrastructure is built in locations that make sense. He said that, from what he understands, there is a proponent who is proposing a smaller site near Clive but has not submitted applications yet.

The province is next scheduled to host a virtual town hall meeting on Aug. 27, from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Following that, an in-person town hall is scheduled in Grande Prairie on Sept. 11, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Location to be determined.

by Ian Gustafson

Lacombe town hall turns heated as residents voice AI data centre concerns

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