Ireland shows the growing problem with the AI boom more clearly than almost anywhere else. Data centres already use about 22% of the country’s electricity, and that could rise to around one-third by 2030. Recent reporting found that the growth of data centres has added hundreds of millions of euros to Irish electricity bills, pushing up costs for ordinary households. Ireland at least receives major tax revenues and investment from hosting the European headquarters of many big tech companies. Most countries will not get those benefits. They may simply end up paying higher energy and infrastructure costs to support AI systems owned by foreign corporations. This is one reason public backlash with AI is growing. People are being asked to absorb higher electricity costs while hearing that AI could replace many of the jobs that currently help families pay those bills.

On a trip to Ireland, Frederick Douglass met abolitionists who kept copies of the Declaration of Independence framed on the wall. That small gesture led him to begin rethinking America.