New AI announcements by the federal government leave many questions unanswered.
The recent Creative FRONTLINE episode, titled “Celilo Falls and the Culture of Death,” in which Celilo Wyam elder, Lana Jack is interviewed, exposes a pattern of encroachment and displacement affecting her tribal community and others, by which the creation and enlargement of data centers to handle a presumed new boom in AI by Google, Amazon and others, is a high dollar continuation of the same actions.
Lana Jack interview:
See: https://on.soundcloud.com/6cCYD2DbnyzRV7Dy9
Video: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFkl1-1Z2gblgmHVZHzcRWqu94JMiqSoH&si=yF21a8_hIDVtjVW_
Transcript (With historical images). https://www.patreon.com/posts/119327082?utm_campaign=postshare_creator
To place Lana Jack’s interview in context, we include three relevant articles which raise follow up questions. These questions form the basis of the proposal for WSU Vancouver student involvement described below.
Questions:
Is the “Stargate” project, mentioned, a continuation of existing projects rebranded for political effect, or is it a new effort requiring public and tribal partnerships which, on the Columbia River, require use of public and tribal resources, and appropriate public scrutiny and permitting?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/tech/deepseek-stocks-ai-china/index.html
Questions:
Do recent announcements like that of “Deepseek” change the requirements of power consumption/planning as related to state and local/regional governments’ agreements and public forecasting?
If Deepseek “Challenges the whole tech/AI ecosystem,” what does that mean for the Columbia River, its ecosystems, local residents, businesses, farms, orchards, tribes and taxpayers?
Despite the high dollar investor pitch put forward by the federal administration, actual power requirements/projections are unknown. How will this announcement muddy the waters further? What cooling requirements would be required in terms of water usage?
Questions:
Two statements stand out among the others in this Columbian article, which require further analysis, however the entire article is essential for understanding and could be drawn upon.
“the new data centers wouldn’t be able to use that water and instead would have to take water from rivers and groundwater that has gone through the city’s water treatment plant.”
Would reclaimed water, potentially containing pesticides, fungicides, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals be used to irrigate orchards and fields in this once agriculturally dependent community?
“Adding to the unease: The 15,000 town residents don’t know how much water the proposed data centers will use, because Google calls it a trade secret“
How can any claims of benefits to communities or investors be verifiable, and could this potentially be considered “fraud by omission?”
THE RIVER PROJECT
Students are requested to put in 15 hours of research to include any writing, audio, and/or video recording, to be compiled into radio episodes for independent broadcasters via Pacifica, NPR and other networks, and print publications, potentially including the Oregonian, the Guardian, Al Jazeera, Times of India, BBC, etc.
Students will receive professional bylines, credits and media presence to enhance their future careers.
Students are further encouraged to engage in independent creative inquiry, with the understanding there are no right or wrong paths of questioning, or answers.
In curiosity and imagination,
Robert Lundahl