Contesting AI Infrastructure

The expansion of artificial intelligence depends on physical infrastructure. Data centres need land, water and large amounts of energy, and their siting is decided by municipalities, provinces and permitting authorities. Across Europe, residents and civil society organisations have started to push back.

This project studies that contestation across three arenas. In the street, citizens organise protests and local campaigns. In representative institutions, they lobby municipal councils and parliaments. In courts and administration, they file objections, submit public comments and challenge permits.

I ask three questions. When do opponents choose one arena over another? How do permitting authorities and courts respond? And how do citizens judge the legitimacy of each route?

Opposition frames vary. Some campaigns focus on resources such as water, energy and land. Others reject AI expansion as a whole. A third set of claims asks who benefits, contrasting foreign operators with local and national interests.

Current work

A pilot study in the Netherlands traces how opposition to data centres moves between protest, local politics and legal procedures.

A survey experiment, funded by the European University Institute, examines how citizens in Germany evaluate actors who oppose data centres in different arenas. It is also part of my project Empowering Voices Beyond Ballots?