The Trojan Horse of AI

In this final guest episode of the year, we explore AI as a kind of Trojan horse: a technology that promises one thing while carrying hidden costs inside it. Those costs show up in data centers, energy and water systems, local economies, and the communities asked to host the infrastructure that makes AI possible.

We’re joined by Jon Ippolito and Joline Blais from the University of Maine for a conversation that starts with AI’s environmental footprint and expands into questions of extraction, power, education, and ethics. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why AI can function as a Trojan horse for data extraction and profit
• What data centers actually do, and why they matter
• The environmental costs hidden inside “innovation” narratives
• The difference between individual AI use and industrial-scale impact
• Why most data center activity isn’t actually AI
• How communities are pitched data centers—and what’s often left out
• The role of gender in ethical decision-making in tech
• What AI is forcing educators to rethink about learning and work
• Why asking “Who benefits?” still cuts through the hype
• And how dissonance can be a form of clarity

Resources mentioned:

• IMPACT Risk framework: https://ai-impact-risk.com
• What Uses More:
  https://what-uses-more.com

Guests:

• Jon Ippolito – artist, writer, and curator who teaches New Media and Digital Curation at the University of Maine. 
• Joline Blais – researches regenerative design, teaches digital storytelling and permaculture, and advises the Terrell House Permaculture Center at the University of Maine.