{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Hot Dish","title":"Are AI's Magic Bean Promises Leading Rural America Down a Risky Path?","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2838,"description":"This episode pulls back the curtain on the AI gold rush, the data centers, the water bills, the NDAs, and what it all means for rural communities that rarely have a seat at the table.\n\nAI sounds like the future, but the costs are landing unevenly, especially outside major cities. Heidi and Joel join Dr. Emily Bender and Dr. Alex Hanna to dig into the real, and rarely discussed, toll of our digital infrastructure boom, from secretive corporate deals to environmental strain, and ask the question nobody in Silicon Valley wants answered: who actually pays the price?\nIn this episode:\nThe gap between AI hype and reality, and why it matters\nData centers sprouting faster than the regulations meant to govern them\nThe true costs to energy, water, and local infrastructure that corporations aren't advertising\nPublic resistance, NDA nightmares, and the political pressure to build fast\nWhy regulation hasn't kept pace and how communities are pushing back\nThe risks of AI overreliance, hallucinations, and why source-checking matters\nWhere international regulation stands and the gap in U.S. policy\nGuests:\nEmily Bender - Twitter | University Profile\nAlex Hanna’s Website\nDAIR Institute\nThe AI boom isn't slowing down, but neither are the people asking the hard questions. Tune in, get informed, and maybe think twice before you trust the hype.\nThe Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/g8wz6bIJJBkVhhXn2wwVIbH1WNXQdmg8yAhxtqQC2EU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS81Yzk5/ZDA4YzM3YjhlMTNh/OGM4MThkNTliMzNl/OTRhMi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}