The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked concerns about job losses, but it also presents an opportunity for job growth and infrastructure development. The construction of data centers, which are the physical backbone of the AI economy, is creating new job opportunities for skilled tradespeople.

Infrastructure Buildout

Labor unions are driving an infrastructure buildout across the United States, with data centers being built at a rapid pace. A single large facility can put 1,500 skilled tradespeople to work at peak construction, many of them earning six figures with overtime. The workers building and maintaining these sites are overwhelmingly union tradespeople, including electricians, pipefitters, ironworkers, HVAC technicians, and operating engineers.

The country has a choice about how to meet this moment. The right answer is to lean in, to expand registered apprenticeships, cut the permitting red tape that slows power projects, and get serious about training the next generation of electricians and pipefitters. This approach rewards the trades that built the interstates and the power grid the first time around and rewards the regions of America that have been told for two decades that their skills were obsolete.

On the other hand, some are pushing for universal basic income, arguing that AI will eliminate work and the government should provide a safety net. However, this approach is seen as a surrender and an insult to the dignity of work. Work is not just a paycheck; it is the thing that lets a parent stand up, look their kids in the eye, and say, ‘I built this.’

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.