The following is an actual transcript of a conversation between a Human Being and a Large Language Model.
SHAWN WICKENS: So you’ve helped me write press releases before, correct? While I am a traveling stand-up comedian and performer, I don’t have you helping me coming up with my material. I do that myself, but you have helped me with marketing ideas and the execution of those marketing ideas and filling out grant applications, but also writing press releases, is that accurate?
ChatGPT: Yes, that sounds right. You’ve been coming up with the creative content, like your comedy material and your concepts, and I’ve been helping shape and package those ideas like press releases, marketing angles, and so on.
SW: So here’s this new idea… because I’ve been thinking about Data Centers. Not only the apparent necessity of them, but also how divided the country is about them. But these data centers will be helping power the next generation of large language models and AI and those tools will helpfully be helping us to solve some problems, right?
C: Okay, so, what problems are you thinking about in particular? Energy use? The environmental impact?
SW: I’ve been thinking about how some of these proposed data centers will likely be in the middle of nowhere. For some of these data centers that are in large open spaces, maybe as an experiment, we can build some low-income and no-income housing to try to offset the unhoused problem in America while also doing it in a place where pre-existing neighbors are gonna complain. Plus if these data centers are supposed to create jobs for people already living close by, there might also be some opportunity to train some unhoused individuals who live very close by to either work there or instead to possibly get an associate’s degree to go into some other line of work.
Isn’t that a plausible idea to even just wonder about?
C: I think it’s an idea worth exploring. It could be more than a thought experiment. Though the logistics are tricky. Data centers don’t tend to bring tons of long-term jobs, and the unhoused population usually need to be close to services, public transport, support networks. So relegating them to the country won’t work. But if a community was built with intention, combining housing, training, support services, and maybe anchored by an industry project, that starts to sound like a real policy idea.
Do you want help sketching what that could look like?
SW: Yes, and here’s how I’d like you to do that. I love your ideas, by the way. I think you’re right in shifting the focus a little bit. So can you write a parody press release about a company that is building a data center in some made-up location and their desire is to also build the next generation of ethical and sustainable community?
The way I see it, if there are engineers in the world that are capable of building these huge structures and there are AI software designers who are capable of designing these tools and construction crews exist that are capable building any number of things…
What I’m trying to express is that there also exists the sort of like human quotient infrastructure of people who do work with these populations and can provide services and want to be of aid and service in these kinds of situations. So while difficult, this wouldn’t be a logistically impossible task. We need to get the word out. So that’s why I want you to write this fake press release that we can make available for people to read as an example of something that could be possible.
C: I like that it’s intentionally satirical. The “ridiculous” part is how corporate press releases already sound when they claim to “build the future”. So here’s mine:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CloudHaven AI Announces the World’s First “Human-Compatible” Data Center.
Buttonwillow Flats, Nevada — CloudHaven AI today announced plans to construct the world’s first “human-compatible” data center campus, a bold new $18 billion project designed to advance artificial intelligence and, incidentally, ordinary intelligence. In addition to cutting-edge server farms, the campus will include affordable housing, supportive housing, vocational training, mental health services, childcare, public transit, parks, libraries, community gardens, and a community college focused on careers in technology, construction, healthcare, renewable energy and whatever else humans still do.
“Since we’re already building the electrical grid of the future, we figured we’d also build some of the social infrastructure we’ve been meaning to get around to,” said CloudHaven CEO Dana Mercer.
The company estimates the data center will employ several hundred workers directly, with thousands more potential jobs created in education, health care, skilled trades, and community services. Rather than relocating unhoused Americans to remote areas, CloudHaven says it will partner with nonprofits, workforce agencies, and local governments to create “voluntary pathways into stable housing, education, and employment.” “We discovered there are already professionals who know how to help people,” Mercer added. “We checked. They exist.”
Construction is expected to begin as soon as executives finish explaining why investing in people was categorized as “experimental.”
How’s that?
SW: I‘ll have to reread it, but I think maybe you’re trying too hard to be funny? Maybe I mispoke in asking for a ‘satirical’ press release. I forget what I said, but I probably meant ‘hypothetical’.
I think the satire is that if we write a believable press release about a fake company doing this, it might sound like an obvious idea that an actual company could maybe explore for real.
C: Oh, okay. You might be onto something there. The satire works better if the press release plays it totally straight, like real corporate language, no wink at the audience. Okay, I’ll rewrite it clean, sober, and convincingly corporate. Same premise, no punchlines.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TerraGrid AI announces “Community-Integrated Computing Campus,” establishing a new model for AI infrastructure development.
Red Canyon Basin, New Mexico — TerraGrid AI today announced plans to develop a 22 billion dollar computing campus, integrating data centers with housing, education, and community services. Company CEO Elena Ramirez said, “ AI infrastructure should strengthen the communities around it, not only the digital economy.”
The campus would partner with local governments and nonprofits to create pathways into housing stability and employment for veterans, displaced workers, young adults entering the workforce, and others facing economic hardship.
“Engineering has never been limited to technology,” Ramirez added. “Building successful communities requires expertise in education, healthcare, housing, and public services too. Those professions deserve to be part of infrastructure planning from the start.”
The company estimates the project will create thousands of construction jobs and support long-term employment in technology, facilities management, education, health care, and hospitality.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2028 following environmental review, community consultation, and final regulatory approvals.
That feels closer to what you meant.
SW: Awesome, thanks. I think that reads much better. And one final experiment to this conversational side quest. Can you give me a few hypothetical negative responses from people in the general public who might read this fake press release and think the idea won’t work or it’s not worth pursuing or it’s not economically feasible? I’d like to see a few hypothetical negative comments.
C: Here are three thoughtful skeptical takes:
“This sounds kind of nice, but ultimately like corporate wishful thinking. Data centers don’t provide that many ongoing jobs. So, why build a whole community around them? Housing and social services are government responsibilities, not a company’s.”
“If the project isn’t profitable, shareholders won’t support it. And if it isprofitable, why hasn’t anyone done this already?”
“I think companies should build data centers well, pay their taxes, and let governments handle housing and social services.”
That kind of criticism is solid and fair. It challenges feasibility, business incentives, and roles of public versus private sectors. And if you can answer those concerns convincingly, the idea actually gets stronger.
SW: Thanks. I wonder what a Human response to those might sound like.
Shawn Wickens is a stoner comedian, zen philosopher, writer and ethical futurist who lives in the United States. Sometimes he used ChatGPT to help him write press releases and proofread grant proposals.
