ChatGPT captured the world’s imagination with its remarkable ability to generate coherent and detailed replies to any request. In just a few short years, AI is now generating simulated human conversation and counseling, realistic videos and catchy pop music. As these applications drive a boom in data centre construction, people are beginning to question how AI will transform society.

The technology’s incredible ability to organize human knowledge with blistering speed is both exciting and alarming. US Senator Bernie Sanders has good reason to warn that we must fight to ensure AI is going to be good for working people, not just billionaires. We must also be mindful that as powerful AI approaches, the technology could push us over climate, economic and social tipping points.

Professional and business oriented AI “agents” already exist for call centers, tech support chatbots, writing and copy editing, legal assistants and scientific research tools, just to name a few. With all these productivity improvements, one has to wonder how many organizations will be downsizing in the near future. Sanders estimates the impact will be on the order of 100 million jobs in the US alone.

The “dot com boom” resulted in many business failures, but it also created world-changing technologies like e-commerce and social media. With addictive new applications and services, there was also a downside as local shops and department stores were replaced by Amazon........

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