Vulnerable People and Places Blog

As a student graphic designer, the future has never felt so uncertain for me. For designers who are in similar positions to me, it feels as if we’re slowly being phased out and replaced with AI. Everywhere in the industry, it seems as if firms are beginning to use AI for once was considered to be “intern” or “entry level” work. Local businesses have also opted for AI-generated designs to cut costs, jeopardizing the design freelance market. Even when talking to established designers and creatives, they advocate for AI’s usage, making it seem as if there is no regard for the environment in our future. It makes me think: is there anything left for us? How do we move forward ethically, with the industry reshaping itself so rapidly? I’ve recently had the opportunity to speak to multiple creatives around Portland within the design community, including a copywriter who has worked for the likes of Nike, Adidas, and many other brands based around the Portland area. We discussed how AI is a too...

  The rise of AI has been argued to be the logical step in society’s technological advancements; looking at popular movies, books, and T.V shows it’s easy to see why. Westworld , The Terminator , Star Trek , the list goes on in science fiction. The future is robots and AI and everything automated, we’ve seen it on our screens.  But unlike many of the technological advancements we’ve made, like automobiles, the internet, or phones, AI isn’t filling a needed gap. Cars filled the need for faster transportation. The internet filled the need for an information hub and archive. Phones filled the need for quick communication. What is AI filling the need for? One could argue it’s filling the need for time; that AI takes on busy work for people so they can have more time. Yet so much of AI that’s used everyday isn’t for menial tasks, it’s been used to replace creative jobs entirely, or to create fake videos or photos. While it’s had its uses in some areas, AI isn’t a necessary technolo...

In an age of already dwindling resources, why do AI data centers reach for freshwater to cool their systems? AI data centers and their servers generate tons of data, and along with it heat. To cool down their systems, most companies use freshwater cooling towers to lower temperatures. But this single-use practice with freshwater poses a problem to communities that need drinking water. Once the water cools the servers, it evaporates. And with each individual use of AI, a little bit more water is used. Nearly “25.5 million liters of water” evaporates from “a single 1-megawatt data center” (Phillips, 2026).  So why don’t these companies switch to wastewater or salt water? Wouldn’t that solve this issue? It’s not as easy as you’d hope.  There are a few main issues with other forms of water compared to freshwater. One of the biggest issues is the minerals and impurities in wastewater or saltwater. These are prone to clog cooling system pipes, cause corrosion, and create long-term d...

 Most people believe facts are what change opinions. While facts are important, research shows that stories often have a much bigger impact on how people think and act. Every day we see statistics about social issues, but many of us forget those numbers almost immediately. What we tend to remember are the stories behind those numbers. Think about homelessness, mental health, or poverty. Reading that thousands of people are affected by an issue can be informative, but hearing one person's story can create a much stronger emotional connection. Stories help people see the human side of a problem instead of viewing it as just another statistic. This is one reason why documentaries, interviews, blogs, and social media posts can be so powerful. Howard Gardner discusses the idea that people learn and understand information in different ways. Some people connect with data and research, while others connect with personal experiences and emotions. Effective communication often combines bot...

Photo by Patrick Hart Written by Patrick Hart In this, part two of I, Unemployed, I will take you through the frontline jobs in the publishing industry and explain how not even seasoned veterans of the trade will retain job security in the coming years . If the corporate desire for rapid profit growth exceeds a humanitarian desire to take time to implement these technologies in an ethical manner to stave off economic disaster, these positions will be at risk. Before that, let me quickly first define what AI models are at their basest root. AI models are programs that utilize artificial intelligence trained on immense amounts of data to analyze data, establish and recognize patterns, and solve queries on their own with minimal to no human interaction. Warehouse Workers and Drivers: The physical pivot point of the publishing business, books need to be moved from one point to another, stored and moved for sale in both a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) capacity. ...

  Most of us don't think twice before asking AI a question. These actions feel completely digital, but behind every click are massive data centers working around the clock to process and store information.  One of the lesser-known impacts of data centers is their water use. Large facilities often rely on water cooling systems to prevent servers from overheating. As artificial intelligence becomes more popular, the demand for computing power continues to grow, meaning more energy and more water are needed to keep these systems running. Some researchers even estimate that a short conversation with an AI chatbot can directly contribute to water consumption somewhere in the data center network.  If every online action has a physical cost, should people know more about the resources required to power their digital lives? The next time you ask AI to answer a question, consider the infrastructure working behind the scenes. Does environmental cost change the way you think about t...

 When most people think about the internet, they imagine something that exists entirely online. In Reality, every search, streamed video clous backup, and AI interaction depends on physical infrastructure called data centers. Oregon has truly become one of the nation's leading locations for these facilities because of its available land, energy resources, and favorable tax incentives. While data centers support the growing digital economy, their rapid expansion has raised important questions about who benefits from their presence and who bears the costs.  Many of Oregon's data centers are being built in rural and agricultural areas, where land is more readily available. These facilities require enormous amounts of electricity and water to operate and cool their servers. As demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing continues to grow, the need for additional data centers grows as well. This can place pressure on local resources and infrastructure while also contribu...