Data center backlash reveals bugs in the political system — or are they features?

When I attended a protest in April against Google’s proposed data center in Little Rock, I complimented a woman on her sign that read “We can’t drink data!” She replied, somewhat to my dismay, “Thanks! I used AI to create it!” (The sign was handwritten so I assume she employed a Large Language Model, or LLM, to brainstorm catchy slogans.) This exchange encapsulates the multitudes, and contradictions, that exist within the coalition of everyday people resistin