05/24/2026
Stumbled across an interesting topic in a community group today. For context, this community is actively working on legislation to prevent data centers from being built. A community volunteer posted a fun, cute graphic that was obviously AI with an invitation to be part of a community project.
How do AI generated images affect your brand? Well, probably poorly. Before the data center boom and fall out, it might have come off as innovative, trendy, or at least neutral.
That’s no longer the case now that the myriad impacts of AI are common knowledge and communities have shifted from trying to attract data centers in the name of economic development to trying to prevent them from being built altogether.
Actions speak louder than words. Posting an AI generated image is an action that sends signals before a single word is read.
Even though it’s possible to use AI in skillful and ethical ways, there’s still no way around the impact of data centers on rural communities, and no denying the massive investment of both public and private dollars that make AI “free.”
The use of AI imagery is symbolic of selling out public water and electricity, intellectual property theft, and taking money from working communities in the form of utility hikes while enriching tech bros.
Is that branding you really want?
Is that something you want to participate in?
I hope that we will see vast improvements in data center design and technology, that the wild public funding will be repaid in the form of taxes, and that reality will hit and AI will charge users what it actually costs. However, we aren’t there yet.
At this moment, using AI imagery sends a lot of signals that can burn bridges and erode trust. As AI, spin, and deep fakes proliferate, people long for authenticity more than ever.
I am not against AI. But in practice, right now, my personal opinion is that it’s bad for your brand. Especially if you live in a community grappling with the realities of data centers and shrinking economic opportunities.
