Maia Woluchem

Ryan Gerety, Director of the Athena Coalition, advocates for community oversight in AI development. Sarah Myers West, co-director at the AI Now Institute, dives into the social implications of artificial intelligence. Maia Woluchem, from Data and Society, focuses on AI's impact on people and places. Together, they dissect Trump's AI Action Plan, raising alarms about corporate interests overshadowing public good. From biased AI in hiring to environmental regulations, their discussion emphasizes the necessity for inclusive policies that prioritize community welfare.

Maia Woluchem leads Data & Society's Trustworthy Infrastructures program, with Livia Garofalo, an anthropologist, and Joan Mukogosi, a PhD candidate, discussing their research on AI data centers in Pennsylvania. They explore the state’s industrial legacy and the environmental impacts of these centers on local communities. The trio illuminates the tension between short-term job creation and long-term costs, highlights local priorities over national narratives, and shares insights from their community engagements during their fieldwork.

Dr. Livia Garofalo, a cultural and medical anthropologist studying healthcare infrastructures in crises, and Maia Woluchem, an urban planner and director researching data center impacts and policy, discuss data centers reviving nuclear plans like Three Mile Island. They cover political and economic promises, community reactions and signage, local organizing wins, and how Pennsylvania’s politics and universities attract massive AI infrastructure projects.