This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” features a special segment with business experts Tom Still and Buckley Brinkman discussing data center development, the future of AI and more.
Brinkman is the former executive director and CEO of the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity, and a frequent opinion contributor to WisBusiness.com. Still is the past president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, an advisor to Competitive Wisconsin and author of the weekly opinion column, “Inside Wisconsin.”
“It seems to be very much a love-hate relationship right now,” Still said of the state’s data center wave and shifting public opinion. “You can see that there are some data center sites that are either under construction or proposed, and some of them might be going quite well. Other places, it’s sort of a mess, to be honest.”
Both guests weigh in on the negative trend in public views around data centers, with Still noting opposition often stems from a dislike for AI as “the two topics often blend together” for people.
“There are a lot of things out there that would, especially in news media, that would tell people that AI is somehow evil,” Still said. “I don’t see enough about all of the potential uses in AI that could be actually ideal for Wisconsin’s economy.”
Brinkman agreed “it’s so easy to go negative” on AI and data centers but emphasized the positive impacts of the technology, pointing to breakthrough applications in the medical field that have resulted in fewer infections.
“There are, you know, dozens of examples of where AI has been used to really help team human be better, and I think that a lot of times we ignore that half of it,” Brinkman said.
The conversation also touches on some lessons learned from the state’s experience with Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn in southeastern Wisconsin.
“I think data centers fall into that same category,” Brinkman said. “They can be very beneficial for the state, as long as we’re being smart going in the way we negotiate them and the terms we put in the contracts.”
Along with the upside for AI and the data centers fueling its development, Brinkman and Still discuss the impact of foreign direct investment in Wisconsin and how the state can leverage its strengths to be competitive, as well as ripple effects from Wisconsin’s startup ecosystem and this fall’s elections.
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
