The Cautionary Tale Of Rural Hall & The Cost Of AI In Our Classrooms

A couple of weeks ago, Justin Parmenter wrote on his blog Notes from the Chalkboard about the push in the NC General Assembly to place more AI in public school classrooms.

While it tracks that the North Carolina General Assembly would pass a bill that gives a recurring amount of money to a private company without passing a state budget for public schools, there are other prices paid by local municipalities for the rampant use of AI.

The use of AI relies massively on data centers which require incredible amounts of energy to run and have environmental impacts that can decimate local resources.

All around the country more and more people are protesting the construction of data centers.

But in state that has not passed a new budget, the weight of financing mandates and essential public services falls more upon the shoulders of local municipalities. Places like Rural Hall in Forsyth County become easy prey to the financial lures of “new business” in the local economy but may have to pay a higher price – environmentally, politically, and ultimately, financially.

As a part of the WSFCS school district that has felt a tremendous financial crush, the very state lawmaking body that is pushing AI into classrooms but not adequately financially resourcing its public school system is forcing rural towns to make decisions that may offer temporary relief, but can have devastating consequences in the long term.

Pollution (both environmental and noise), watershed effects, and property values are just a few of the concerns.

And then there are the concerns of using so much AI in our public schools.