DEAR EDITOR:

If you’re even somewhat active on social media, I’m sure you’ve noticed it feels a lot more inauthentic as of late.

Your feed that used to be filled with pictures and posts from your friends and family has been replaced by advertisements, bots, and AI-generated content. It’s made the internet an unbearable place to be.

The increased bot traffic as well as the effects of generative AI and AI surveillance equipment have created a need for data centers, which have quickly been popping up all over the country.

If, and unfortunately, probably when these centers arrive here, it will be the nail in the coffin for the Mahoning Valley.

The population has been dwindling for almost 50 years now. Bachman-Turner Overdrive said it best, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The jobs? Temporary. The ones that are permanent are few and far between.

Listen to the stories told by people living close to these data centers.

When we’re told to ration water and electricity because “the data centers need it,” when our green spaces are decimated by pollution, and when rising utility bills start impacting residents, everyone with the means to leave the Mahoning Valley will do so. Those who can’t will suffer the consequences.

All of this to enrich people who consider our area — our homes — a punchline, and a shell of a community not worth any real investment into. They’re putting data centers here because it’s a poor area, and time and time again, the regular folk are expected to subsidize the affluent’s quality of life. They will milk the Mahoning Valley for all they can, and then throw it in the trash when there’s nothing left.

If you’re a cynic and think things in the Valley can’t get worse, buckle up.

It is imperative that if you live here and want to continue living here with a high quality of life, you do what you can to keep these data centers out.

I was born here. I’ve laughed here. I’ve cried here. I’ve loved here. I chose to stay here when so many people my age have left. It would break my heart if my home was ruined just so people can ask ChatGPT to reply to a text from their parents or how to tie their shoes.

If you’re reading this and calling me a Luddite, please look up the real story of the Luddites. The comparisons are almost eerie.

BRIAN YAUGER

Warren