SALT LAKE CITY – Amid the growing statewide debate over artificial intelligence and the data centers that support that emerging technology, the conservative Sutherland Institute has issued a report touting the benefits of AI.
In an overview entitled The Human-Centered Benefits of AI: Reality vs. Perception, Sutherland Institute tech policy analyst Ford Copple explores how AI is already improving everyday life in ways that people may not realize.
Copple observed that areas already heavily impacted by artificial intelligence include health care, education, small business operations and research/discovery.
“As policymakers consider AI regulation, they will need to account for both the technology’s risks and its potential benefits,” Copple writes. “The challenge is to address legitimate risks without losing sight of the opportunities AI may create.”
Artificial intelligence was already a topic of some concern in the news when the controversial Stratos Project was announced in Box Elder County in early May.
As originally proposed by Canadian billionaire Kevin O’Leary and supported by the state’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), the Stratos Project would have been a 40,000-acre hyperscale data center slated to be created in the remote Hansel Valley area of Box Elder County.
But heated public outcry over concern about the proposed development’s water and power usages have sparked a reconsideration of data centers not only in Utah but also across the country.
Utah now has 48 operational data center, but only one would have a similar impact to the proposed Stratos Center. That development in West Jordan covers more than 100 acres and one million square feet of infrastructure while consuming 133 mega-watts of power or about 2.9 percent of the state total capacity, according to TRG Datacenters.
In his report for the Sutherland institute, Copple argues that greater public understanding of AI’s practical applications can help make policy debates more balanced.
The report also features data from a recent survey of the opinions of U.S. and Utah voters about AI conducted by Y2 Analytics.
That polling found that while 78 percent of Utahns expressed concern about AI taking away jobs – although not their particular jobs – only 56 percent of Utah residents reported that artificial intelligence had made their lives at least “a little easier.”
Those findings also show a gap between the AI tools people commonly use and the technology’s broader potential, Copple observes.
Both Americans in general and Utahns are most comfortable with productivity-focused applications, such as chatbots and writing assistants. They also see significant promise in AI’s potential to advance medicine, research, and innovation.
They are less enthusiastic, however, about its potential benefits for businesses.
Copple argues that greater public understanding of AI’s practical applications can help make policy debates more balanced.
While there are legitimate concerns around AI, including privacy, safety, education and employment, Copple cautions against allowing those concerns to prevent its potential to improve lives.
A third-generation operator of data centers, TRG Datacenters is recognized as an industry leader in term of reliability and experience.
Based in Salt Lake City, Y2 Analytics is a market research and data analytics group with extensive experience measuring and analyzing public opinion.
The Sutherland Institute is a conservative public policy think tank founded in 1995 by Utah businessman and philanthropist Gaylord K. Swim.