AI relies on vast data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. Operating continuously, these centers generate intense heat often cooled with water, yet companies frequently under report usage, leaving communities unaware of long-term strain on aquifers, rivers and municipal supplies—a familiar pattern of progress outpacing our understanding of its costs.
Across the country, communities are asking hard questions. In Michigan, temporary moratoriums on new data centers aim not to stop innovation, but to assess environmental impacts, shape policy and protect shared resources.
Water, a finite and life-giving resource, sits at the center of this debate. As climate pressures grow, the ethics of diverting water for digital infrastructure can no longer be ignored.
Catholic Social Teaching: Progress Must Be Guided
Catholic Social Teaching offers a crucial lens for this conversation. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis cautions against an uncritical faith in technology, warning that when power and profit are separated from moral responsibility, both people and the planet suffer. He reminds us that technological progress must be evaluated by its impact on human dignity, social relationships and the integrity of creation.
In Laudate Deum, the Pope intensifies this call, underscoring the urgency of environmental action and the disproportionate burden borne by the poor and marginalized. Delay, he argues, is itself a moral failure. Innovation without accountability risks deepening inequality and accelerating ecological harm.
Church leaders have echoed these concerns about AI, calling for safeguards that protect truth, human dignity, children and the natural world. Recent papal teaching warns that emerging technologies must uphold human dignity and moral responsibility. The goal is not to reject technology, but to ensure it serves life rather than dominates it.
A Felician Perspective: Witness Across 150 Years of Change
The Felician Sisters of North America have witnessed extraordinary transformation since their arrival in the United States 150 years ago. They lived through the rise of industrialization, the expansion of cities, the growth of public education and health care and the environmental consequences that often followed unchecked development.
Across generations, the sisters saw how progress could uplift communities—and how it could also exploit workers, degrade land and pollute water when ethical considerations were set aside. This lived history offers a valuable perspective for today’s AI revolution. It reminds us that new technologies always carry moral weight, and that the choices made early often shape decades, even centuries, to come.
Rooted in Franciscan spirituality, the Felician charism calls for reverence toward creation, solidarity with those on the margins and a commitment to justice that extends beyond immediate gain. These values are deeply relevant as society navigates the promises and perils of artificial intelligence.
Water Stewardship and Corporate Responsibility
The Felician Sisters address environmental concerns through initiatives like the Ceres Valuing Water Finance Initiative, encouraging corporations and investors to manage water risks in global supply chains. While current efforts focus beyond AI, emerging studies show data center water use poses significant, often underestimated environmental and financial risks.
Promising research on alternative cooling technologies could greatly reduce—or even eliminate—water use in data centers. But these solutions require ongoing commitment, transparency and regulation to become standard rather than exceptional.
Now is the time for faith communities, policymakers, corporations and investors to collaborate, ensuring technological progress does not harm local communities or future generations.
America250: Choosing the Next Chapter
As the nation marks 250 years of independence, artificial intelligence challenges American values. Will innovation repeat patterns of overconsumption and environmental neglect, or embrace a vision that balances creativity, justice and care for life?
For the Felician Sisters, environmental stewardship in the AI era is a continuation of our long-standing commitment to care for creation and protect the vulnerable. Decisions today—on water use, transparency, regulation and ethics—will shape the nation for generations. Guided by faith and hope, we are called to ensure innovation serves the common good and honors our shared home.
