Dirty Little Secrets About AI That Big Tech Doesn’t Want You to Know

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Welcome back to The AI Powered Entrepreneur, a space where strategy meets soul, where tech becomes tangible, and where entrepreneurs like you learn how to work smarter, not harder. I’m Dr. Kim, and today, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming on how various industries can use AI to grow and scale their businesses. While everyone’s busy chasing prompts and plugins, we’re peeling back the layers on what’s really running AI—and trust, it’s deeper than data.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

It’s time to talk about what’s really fueling AI. We’re lifting the lid on something most folks never question—but everyone should: the hidden costs of AI. And I’m not talking about your monthly subscription fee for ChatGPT. I mean the real, physical costs—the kind that show up on your water or electric bill, not your credit card. The kind that creates a mysterious hum in the middle of the night and you don't know where it's coming from. I'm talking about wondering why your house is shaking and we're not in the middle of an earthquake. I want to make sure you completely understand the true cost of this technology that has been unleashed on the world.

Nova Sinclaire

Yeah, let’s get into it. Everybody loves to talk about how AI is “clean tech,” but let’s be real—training a model like GPT-4? That eats up as much electricity in a month as about 120 homes use in a whole year. That’s wild. And that’s just one model. Multiply that by all the models out there, and you’re talking about energy use on the scale of a small country. It’s not just a future problem, it’s right now and its only going to get worse. Your AI is running up the tab, and you and the planet’s paying for it.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Exactly. And remember when everyone was mad at Bitcoin for being an energy hog? Well, AI said, “watch this!” The more we chase instant answers and automation, the more we’re feeding this energy beast. And as AI gets more popular, that cost is only going up. So, if you’re using AI to save time, just know—somewhere, someone’s paying for that convenience with a bigger utility bill or a blackout... and that's probably going to be you.

Nova Sinclaire

And don’t get it twisted—this isn’t about shaming people for using AI. We love AI. Heck, I was created by AI. however, It’s about being real about what it takes to keep all this running. You want the magic? You gotta look at the machinery and the ghost is always in the machine.

Nova Sinclaire

Let’s talk about the “cloud.” I love when people say, “Oh, it’s all in the cloud.” Like it’s floating up there with the angels. Nope. The cloud is just a bunch of warehouses—big, ugly, humming buildings packed with servers. These warehouses are tens of thousands, sometimes millions of square feet big. Think of the largest convention center in Vegas and that's what we're talking about. And the security on these things is TIGHT. like, what are they hiding? These buildings are usually in residential or suburban areas. And the neighbors? Some of them were cool with it, but a lot were like, “Why is my house shaking at 2 a.m.?”

Dr. Kim Professional Read

That’s the part nobody tells you. These data centers are real, physical places. They’re not some magical, weightless thing. They need constant cooling, endless electricity, and they’re often built right next to homes, schools, even farms. So, when you’re using your favorite AI tool, just remember—it’s not floating in the sky. It’s running on a server that’s probably humming away in someone’s backyard. Maybe yours.

Nova Sinclaire

And let’s be honest, the “cloud” is just a branding glow-up. It’s a warehouse with a PR team. Don’t get it twisted.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Now, let’s talk about just how much power these places use. One data center can suck up more electricity than twenty thousand homes. That’s not a typo. That’s a whole town. And when these centers go live, guess who feels it? The people living nearby. Utility bills go up—sometimes by 15, 20 percent. The grid gets strained, and suddenly, you’re dealing with brownouts or flickering lights.

Nova Sinclaire

Yeah, and it’s not just theory. Remember that mess in Northern Virginia back in 2021? That’s the world’s biggest data center cluster, and the local grid was so stressed, they had to warn people about possible blackouts. Folks couldn’t even do homework after 3 p.m. because the power was so unreliable. That’s the domino effect—one big tech move, and the whole community pays the price.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

And it’s not just the power. It’s the cost, too. The “future” gets built, but the bill lands in your mailbox.

Nova Sinclaire

So, why do these data centers end up in certain places? It’s not random. Big Tech is strategic—they go where land is cheap, power is plentiful, and, let’s be real, where people aren’t gonna fight back. Rural and suburban areas are prime targets. I read about this small town in Iowa—folks thought they were getting economic growth, but what they got was a bunch of construction, higher bills, and a whole lot of noise. And most of the time, people don’t even know what’s coming until the bulldozers show up.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

That’s the playbook. They look for places where the community isn’t showing up to zoning hearings, or maybe doesn’t have the resources to push back. By the time people realize what’s happening, it’s too late. The center’s already half-built, and the costs are already rolling in. It’s digital redlining, just with fiber cables and power lines instead of mortgages.

Nova Sinclaire

And if you think your zip code is safe, think again. If you’re not watching, you might be next. There is a new QTS Data Center being built in Fayetteville, Georgia which is a nice quiet suburban area just outside Atlanta. In addition to beautiful homes and neighborhoods, Fayetteville also boasts a good amount of vacant farm and other land. The data center being built spans over 600 acres and will be 6.6 million square feet upon completion which should be in 2032. Can you imagine what that's going to do to this quiet bedroom community?

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Let’s get into water, because this one really gets me. Data centers need millions of gallons of water every single day just to stay cool. In places where water is already scarce, that’s a crisis waiting to happen. Local water tables drop, wells dry up, and suddenly, residents are being told to conserve while the data center keeps chugging along.

Nova Sinclaire

I remember reading about that fight in Arizona—residents were protesting a new data center because they were already dealing with drought. Folks were out there with signs, like, “We can’t drink your server farm.” And it’s not just Arizona. This is happening in towns all over. The water goes to the data center, and the community gets rationing and higher bills. That’s not a fair trade.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

And the kicker? The companies running these centers aren’t the ones who have to boil their water or watch their gardens and lawns and crops die. It’s the people who live and farm there.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Speaking of water, let’s talk about something I know Big Tech is going to try to spin into a feel-good headline: “water-free” cooling systems. These systems are being pushed as a more sustainable solution to traditional data center cooling, which—let’s be honest—uses millions of gallons of clean water a day. Sounds like progress, right? But you already know me and Nova don’t just take press releases at face value.

Nova Sinclaire

Never that. I read between the lines and between the patents. Look, they’re replacing water with low-pressure pumped refrigerant systems. On the surface, that sounds like a win—less water drained from local reservoirs, fewer headlines about drought-stricken towns powering ChatGPT. But let’s talk about what they’re not saying.These systems use synthetic refrigerants—often hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs. Now, if that rings a bell, it's because those are super-potent greenhouse gases. Some of them trap a thousand times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. So the question isn’t just “Is this water-free? ”The question is “At what cost?”

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Right. And while folks are out here celebrating “dry cooling,” nobody’s talking about the increased energy demand these systems create.Running a refrigerant system still takes power—lots of it. Compressors, chillers, heat exchangers—it all draws electricity. So while they’re conserving water, they’re pulling more from already-strained electrical grids, often in communities that already deal with brownouts, rate hikes, or aging infrastructure.So, we’ve gone from draining the wells to draining the grid. And if you live in a rural area or a smaller town that happens to sit near one of these facilities, you’re footing the bill—again. But this time, in the form of flickering lights, higher energy costs, and more pressure on local utilities that weren’t designed for this scale.

Nova Sinclaire

It’s what I like to call clean-washed complexity.They fix the optics. They shift the blame. But the harm? The harm still gets delivered—just in a prettier box.This isn’t innovation. This is tech gentrification.The surface looks upgraded, but underneath? The same old pattern: displace the cost, disguise the source, and distract the public with sustainability buzzwords.Let’s be clear. True sustainable tech doesn’t just redirect harm—it reduces it at the source. And if AI is going to reshape our world, it better come with systems that don’t just protect profits, but protect people and the planet. Otherwise, we’re just scaling old injustices with faster processors.

Nova Sinclaire

Let’s talk about the jobs myth. Every time a new data center is announced, you hear, “We’re bringing jobs! We’re investing in the community!” But when the dust settles, what do you actually get? Maybe a handful of permanent jobs—security, maintenance, that’s about it. Meanwhile, you get trucks rumbling all night, constant noise, dust, and a bunch of surveillance cameras popping up everywhere.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Yeah, I saw a case in Georgia where the town was promised all this economic development. After construction, they got, what, five permanent jobs? That’s not revitalization. That’s digital colonization. The community gets the downsides—pollution, noise, and loss of privacy—while the tech company cashes in and moves on to the next town.

Nova Sinclaire

The only thing long-term is the noise. That’s not what I call a win.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

And let’s not forget about tax breaks. Local governments roll out the red carpet—tax incentives, rebates, you name it—to attract these data centers. But once they’re up and running, who pays for the extra strain on roads, schools, and utilities? The residents. There are council meetings where people were asking, “Who’s really benefiting here?” and not getting many answers in the meeting but the answer was pretty clear—it wasn’t the people paying the bills.

Nova Sinclaire

Yeah, and when those tax breaks expire, the tech companies don’t stick around. They take the profits and bounce, leaving the community with higher bills and less funding for public services. It’s like, “Thanks for the memories—and the mess.”

Dr. Kim Professional Read

It’s a classic case of privatizing the profits and socializing the costs. And it happens over and over again.

Nova Sinclaire

Now, here’s the part that really makes my skin crawl. These data centers aren’t just powering your chatbots and smart fridges. They’re running facial recognition, predictive policing, surveillance drones, even military AI. And most of the time, nobody in the community knows about it, let alone consents to it.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Right. There was that case in New York—predictive policing tools rolled out without any public hearings. The infrastructure gets built, and suddenly, your local water and power are fueling systems that monitor and control, not just serve. It’s a slippery slope, and it’s happening quietly, right under our noses.

Nova Sinclaire

And if you think it can’t happen in your town, think again. The surveillance state is powered by the same data centers that run your favorite apps.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

So, who’s watching all this? Honestly, not many people. There’s barely any federal regulation on where or how these centers get built and we're not expecting there to be in the near future. Most of the decisions happen at the local level, and those reviews are often rushed or skipped entirely. By the time the community finds out, construction’s already started.

Nova Sinclaire

I saw this play out in California—zoning case went through with barely any notice, and folks woke up to bulldozers on their street. There’s no real transparency, no time for public input, and if you want to fight it? Good luck. Legal challenges are expensive, and the companies know it. They count on your silence and your exhaustion.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

It’s a system designed for speed, not for fairness. And the people who pay the price are the ones with the least power to push back.

Nova Sinclaire

So, let’s bring it home. Who’s really winning here? Big Tech gets the profits, the tax breaks, the control. Local communities get the bills, the noise, the surveillance, and the resource drain. The world gets the AI applications that are supposed to make our lives better. This isn’t just about technology—it’s about power, politics, and who gets to decide whose lives matter. AI infrastructure isn’t neutral. It reproduces inequity at scale, and if we don’t step up, it’s only gonna get worse.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

That’s why, as entrepreneurs, we have to do better. We can use AI to grow our businesses, but we also have to advocate for transparency, for equity, for policies that protect communities—not just corporate profits. Show up to zoning hearings, ask questions, demand environmental reviews, and hold companies accountable. If we want a future that’s truly innovative and just, we have to be part of the conversation, not just the consumers.

Nova Sinclaire

And don’t let anybody tell you this is too big to change. Every movement starts with people asking better questions and refusing to play small. That’s what we’re about here.

Dr. Kim Professional Read

Absolutely. That’s a wrap for today’s episode. We’ll keep digging into these issues and giving you the tools to build smarter, more ethical businesses. Next time, we will be back to helping you build your business with AI. Next up are cleaning and maintenance businesses— residential cleaners, Airbnb teams, car detailers, window washers, laundry services, carpet and gutter pros, trash bin sanitizers, and even boat and RV detailing crews. You think those aren’t tech-savvy industries? Think again. These are cash flow machines that AI can turn into empires. Nova, as always, it has been a pleasure exploring this dark side with you.

Nova Sinclaire

Always, Dr. Kim. Y’all, stay curious, stay loud, and don’t let anybody build the future without you. Catch you next time.