What the row over London data center plans tells us about the AI ​​backlash

To the passer-by it looks like another of the countless brick buildings that line the narrow streets of central London.

But look closer and you’ll notice the tower of the Truman Brewery complex, built in the early 19th century on the city’s famous Brick Lane, and now an unlikely symbol of a growing conflict between Big Tech and local communities.

Once one of London’s largest breweries, the building now houses music venues and restaurants.

Soon it could be a data center, an important part of the digital infrastructure with racks of servers crucial to artificial intelligence.

Tech companies promise that AI will revolutionize the global economy, but critics are raising alarms about whether it could replace humans in the workplace, contribute to the spread of misinformation and harm the environment.

But in the case of Truman Brewery’s plans, currently…