If you live in Utah, just seeing those two words might be enough to make your blood pressure rise and your emotions go haywire.

There seem to be two very distinct rallying cries when it comes to these large-scale projects:

“We must have them to lead the way and/or keep up with technology!” or “We must stop them or they will destroy our land, water, air and environment!”

Many technology businesses and a significant portion of Utah’s leadership seem to be in the first camp, while others have come forward as vocal proponents of the second camp.

I don’t know how many Utahns are in either camp or somewhere in between but, to me, the bigger question we all should be asking is this:

Is it worth it?

I saw an article from the Goldwater Institute, which claims to be “a free-market public policy research and litigation organization dedicated to advancing the principles of limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty” that presented its views of data centers.

The piece, titled “The Data Center Debate: Fact vs. Fiction,” focused on the case in favor of building data centers. What struck me most, though, was this overview:

“Since every digital action requires a physical home, data centers need immense scale to support the global economy. What looks like an oversized warehouse is a highly engineered environment housing tens of thousands of servers operating with near-zero downtime. This necessitates specialized cooling, high-capacity fiber, and massive on-site power distribution. By building on large campuses, developers can grow in phases to meet the skyrocketing demand for AI and cloud computing while maintaining a predictable, high-value footprint.”

This, to me, is the crux of the matter.

I got to thinking about all of the individuals who have banded together to oppose the construction of data centers in Utah, whether by appearing at meetings in person, reaching out to city and state leadership through letters, phone calls and emails, and by publicly expressing their views through opinion columns or other technology like social media.

I see many advocating for government intervention, but I wonder how many have taken the added step of boycotting the companies who need these facilities.

As we’ve seen with other businesses, if enough people buy in, then boycotting could dramatically reduce the demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

No business is going to waste millions or billions of dollars on these controversial projects if the demand isn’t there. That’s what free-market economics is all about.

How many of those who are staunchly opposed to data center construction are actively working to demand more responsibility from these institutions by not using the technology that requires them? How many have done it personally, choosing not to use AI and cloud services?

Or are they really more in the NIMBY camp (Not In My Back Yard)? Do they want what they see as all the benefits of AI and cloud computing but want to pass the data-center problems off to some other city or state?

Because, as of this point in time, to have the tech you have to have data centers somewhere.

So, as we must do with almost everything, we have to ask ourselves is the benefits are truly worth the costs.

Personally, I doubt they are.

I think artificial intelligence can be beneficial in finding trends in large amounts of information, but the majority of the time it makes us lazier and at greater risk of being manipulated.

Cloud computing seems on the surface like it has great value in keeping information more easily available — but we’ve also seen with countless security breaches and criminal hacking efforts that the bad guys might outsmart the good guys, then use that stolen information and access to prey on others.

I’ve heard people express hope that artificial intelligence will be able to eradicate disease or solve other world problems. On the one hand, that would be great — unless someone like the fictional Dr. Doom or the real-world Adolf Hitler uses that same technology to create mass chaos and destruction.

Costs and benefits. Rewards and risks.

I don’t think data centers and the technology that requires them are inherently good or inherently bad. Just like cars and guns and social media and so many other things, they can be used in positive and negative ways.

But I think we should all analyze all aspects as logically as possible to determine our own position and recognize what, to us, is worth it.

It certainly won’t be the same for everyone. You may be reading these words and completely disagree with me about the value of technology or the environmental concerns that go along with them.

But in identifying what matters most to you and then acting accordingly, you will be doing your part.

And if enough people do the same, the world will change.

Jared Lloyd is the managing editor of the Standard-Examiner. He can be reached at jlloyd@standard.net.