Looking forward to a trip to “Orangeotild” or “Whata Bod?” Good luck. Earlier this month, the National Weather Service posted an online weather map of rural Idaho created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The weather was accurate but the towns were hallucinated by the computer program. AI-fabricated citations, quotes, and data have been discovered in legal briefs, medical reports, financial documents, government disclosures, and other documents.
Glitchy programming isn’t the only font of falsehood. Human operators can program AI to deceive. If you were moved by images of Venezuelans celebrating the ouster of their dictator or “newly discovered” photos of Renee Good’s death, check your sources. Realistic but utterly contrived videos went viral on social media after both incidents. AI gives foreign propagandists and architects of discord within our borders an edge they lacked with conventional imaging tools.
The ability to create misinformation by error or intent is not the only challenge presented by this far-reaching technology. Impressive as it is that AI can pilot cars, answer customer service queries, recognize missed tumors on mammograms, distinguish faces, write code, compose music, and direct factory robots, the technology can also raise electricity rates, eliminate jobs, violate copyright, threaten online security, amplify bias and division, weaken cognition and skills, and lead people astray.
As the Colorado General Assembly contemplates legislation concerning AI, legislators need to tread cautiously. AI will be beneficial but not without significant costs. Historically America’s lawmakers addressed the human and environmental impacts of the Industrial Revolution’s transformational technology only after rivers ran with toxic chemicals and mistreated workers picketed.
Legislators can learn from the past by anticipating the future rather than simply reacting after the fact. At the very least, legislatures need to address the impact of data centers and complete their work on the risks of AI bias.
Volunteers hand out yard signs against a data center complex in Canaan Valley on June 30 near Davis, W.V. (ULYSSE BELLIER/AFP via Getty Images)Over the past decade, demand for electricity for data centers for AI, data storage, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency has tripled and is poised to double or triple again by 2028 according the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2024, data centers in the U.S. alone consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) or about 4% of the nation’s electricity use that year. For comparison, that’s the equivalent of Pakistan’s electricity demand. The surge in demand requires new generating capacity and infrastructure, the cost of which is shouldered by all ratepayers. The increasing demand could raise costs for residential ratepayers by 8% a 2025 study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University predicted.
Data center consumption of water is also a concern particularly given Colorado’s drought conditions. Not all data centers are water cooled but those that are can consume as much as 5 million gallons a day, the same as a town with a population of 25,000 people.
Finally, there’s the issue of the land use. While the average data center is around 100,000 square feet, the size of a large strip mall, some hyperscale data centers cover more than a million square feet; that’s 15 football fields. What community doesn’t want a giant heat island of concrete buildings humming with low-frequency sound? And it could potentially be worse; how about a crumbling campus of empty computer bunkers abandoned after the AI bubble bursts?
In exchange for the acres of concrete, proponents say, communities get jobs. They should remember to add the word “temporary.” After the construction crews leave, these sprawling digital warehouses can be manned by a few dozen workers.
There’s a reason why communities are increasingly pushing back against plans to build data centers; costs borne by the community far outweigh the benefits to the community. Since 2023, proposed data center projects worth $162 billion have been delayed or obstructed according to Data Center Watch. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, an estimated $98 billion in projects were delayed or blocked.
Fortunately, this legislative session, which began last week, the Colorado legislature is looking at ways to shield residents from rate hikes caused by data centers. One bill, House Bill 1030, would exempt data centers from sales and use taxes for least 20 years as long as they “will not cause unreasonable cost impacts to other utility ratepayers.”
Corporate welfare doesn’t come cheap, however. If HB-1030 is anything like last year’s version, it will deprive the general fund of $38 million in revenue each year. Given the current budget shortfall, the price tag for keeping data centers from spiking utility rates should be a nonstarter.
Also, let’s be honest, data centers aren’t built within sight (or hearing) of wealthy neighborhoods. The legislature needs to ensure rural areas and lower income urban areas are protected from all of the negative impacts posed by data centers especially given that they are not the job creation bonanzas they proport to be.
An aerial view of a 33 megawatt data center on October 20 in Vernon, Calif. A surge in demand for AI infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)Also on the docket are amendments to the consumer protections for artificial intelligence set to take effect this year. The first-in-the-nation AI legislation is designed to protect consumers from the very real risk of algorithmic discrimination by AI systems in decisions regarding employment, lending, education opportunities, insurance, housing, health care, and essential government services.
When critics contend the legislation will be costly to implement and could slow innovation, proponents need to remind them that legislation isn’t just in the interest of consumers but the companies themselves. The human resources company Workday, Inc. has been sued by job applicants who experienced discrimination when the company’s AI program screened out candidates 40 years and older. Eliminating bias in AI programs protects companies from being sued and consumers from having to sue to defend their rights.
In addition to mitigating potential harms to communities and consumers, the legislature should also examine AI’s impact on public education. Studies have shown that routine use of AI has a deleterious impact on cognition, creativity, recall, and critical thinking. One study by MIT researchers found that using ChatGPT for tasks like essay writing weakened memory, neural connectivity, and the participants’ sense of ownership over their writing.
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Reading, a way of perceiving ideas through the eyes of others, increases empathy and community, noted one professor. An AI summary cannot reproduce that. Thus, the inability to read complex material impedes social as well as intellectual growth. Hearings on the impact of AI on public education, as well as jobs, cybersecurity, privacy, the environment, and copyright infringement will highlight the issues and possible legislative solutions.
AI computers, which can process 120 million times faster than a human brain, will no doubt contribute mightily to progress in science and medicine, but their potential costs cannot be ignored. We must plan for the future. Just as the pilot does not nap after turning on the airplane’s autopilot, we must remain fully awake at the switchboard of this new high-flying era. There are worse things than trying to land in “Orangeotild.”
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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