Managing the Land Use Impacts of Artificial Intelligence

Every time you ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude a question, you are tapping into a sprawling, power hungry network of machines. These machines are housed in massive data centers, powered by gigawatts of electricity, and cooled by billions of gallons of water.
The social, technological, economic, environmental, and political effects of artificial intelligence (AI) deployment are global. However, in the U.S., the pace of this deployment depends largely on local land use decision-making for data centers and power generation, storage, and transmission facilities.
This session will explore the primary and ancillary land use impacts of the rapid and widespread proliferation of physical infrastructure directly tied to AI research, development, and deployment across society. It will highlight how planners can use plans, zoning regulations, and other tools to better manage the integration of AI-related facilities into the communities they serve. And it will present a case study of Fairfax County, Virginia's approach to managing data center development.
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