Anthropocentrism, Peter Singer, and Data Centers
Data Centers. Why are they the big topic of conversation? It seems that, as of late, they’re constantly appearing in the news. And, on top of it all, they are shaping up to be a divisive topic. Supporters cite the benefits: more powerful AI, better infrastructure, and increased jobs in communities; meanwhile, those in opposition reference concerns of environmental disruption and electricity usage.
The creation and expansion of data centers reveal something central to the human will: a desire for impact. Even amid environmental concerns, which technologists often frame as a necessary evil, efforts to develop the data centers press on. The intrinsic desire for creation seems to be the best possible explanation for why this happens. It gives a meaning to the creation of powerful AI.
Regarding the actual ethics of data center expansionism, the doctrine of Mill’s utilitarianism likely won’t offer any clear cut solutions at this given moment, largely because we lack the knowledge. If we, indeed, happened to know the relative scale of each pro and con of data centers, it could, perhaps, offer a more authoritative answer. But, as it stands, these quantities are unknown. It’s particularly challenging to define this, because people have widely different interests. To come up with a generalization, therefore, is a complex and nearly impossible task. Moreover, Kant’s duty-based ethical philosophy has a relatively limited domain, mostly specific to relations between humans and not relations between humans and other entities (e.g the environment). As a consequence, we’re forced to turn to other philosophies for potential answers.
It would likely reveal some valuable insight to examine the worth of the environment. Many modern philosophers posit a sort of intrinsic value, much like that which humans are said to have. Peter Singer, the philosopher well known for his work in animal ethics, largely shaped the modern view of animals. In ancient times, particularly, animals were viewed as pure biological machinery. That is to say, the belief was that animals did not have any capacity to feel, or to have a subjective experience of the world. The new belief is that if a being can suffer, its interests count, instead of only rational beings’ interests counting. This is a worthwhile consideration to calculate when analyzing the environmental impact of AI data centers.
Contrary to Singer is the view of anthropocentrism, the view that nature has no inherent value, rather, only a utility, and that utility is to serve human needs. In the case of AI, if the land serves a greater utility to humans by being grounds for a data center, these benefits could outweigh environmental concerns.
At the heart of it all, the ultimate question seems to be, what do we value more as a society: preservation or creation?
