The Best of Coast to Coast AM Cybersecurity - Best of Coast to Coast AM - 3/19/26
Mar 20, 2026
Anne Foerst, professor and AI ethicist, explains AI’s social and ethical stakes. She explores data centers' resource impacts. She warns about AI giving harmful guidance to youth and why people anthropomorphize companions. She contrasts social robots with factory bots and outlines a potential path combining embodied robotics with modern language models.
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AI Data Centers Drain Local Resources
- AI systems consume huge energy and water, stressing local utilities and raising residential energy costs.
- Anne Foerst cites data centers driving up local electricity bills and governments considering separate billing for residents vs data centers.
LLMs Can Fail At Crisis Intervention
- Large language models lack real understanding and can mishandle crises like suicidal ideation.
- Anne Foerst explains AIs regurgitate input and fail to trigger real-world interventions that a human therapist would.
Anthropomorphism Makes AI Persuasive
- People anthropomorphize AI because it behaves as if it understands, increasing trust and emotional attachment.
- Foerst links loneliness and online-only friendships to kids trusting ChatGPT on phones as familiar companions.