Protestors gather to oppose data centers in their community

CONNEAUT – A group of AI data center opponents marched down Broad Street from Jackson Street to Conneaut City Hall Saturday afternoon, July 18, to maintain and bolster ongoing efforts to keep these developments out of their community.
Several motorists honked their car horns in support as the crowd of a bit over two dozen protestors made their way to City Hall. Some of the marchers chanted “no data centers,” while others pointed to the Conneaut Public Library and shouted, “That’s the data center we support,” or “Data centers don’t care about our community or our resources.”
As the group massed in front of the steps to City Hall, Darren Lambert, a licensed marriage and family therapist, spoke about what he characterized as the mental-health hazards of AI.
He began by citing research claiming that 63 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats oppose AI data center development in their communities or as a whole.
“This is one of those things where we pretty much agree, and so therefore it’s a matter of human importance, not just one side versus the other,” Lambert said.
He touched on widely cited worries over the effect data center development could have on utility rates, water consumption and its effect on water quality, and noise from the centers and their backup generators.
“Who wants that?” he asked. “I don’t.”
Lambert moved on to deaths from suicide and or homicide linked to AI use, citing 33 alleged cases – 10 of them being children ages 11-17.
“We can oppose data centers, but we also have to oppose the reason for data centers,” he said.
A study released by Stanford University claims the use of AI chatbots for counseling on mental illness is the biggest public health challenge of 2025 and 2026, according to Lambert.
“This has happened,” he said. “You can look it up.”
Lambert said mental-health professionals are considering Social Media Use Disorder for inclusion in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a guidebook published by the American Psychiatric Association used by healthcare professionals to diagnose and classify mental illnesses.
“I can tell you, of the teenage clients I’ve had, there is one major theme, and that is over usage of social media to the expense of actual human connection,” he said. “We’re using social media to replace human connection; we’re using AI to replace human connection. From what I’ve seen in my practice – is people having depression and anxiety because of it.”
Lambert cited remarks from Elon Musk in April calling for a form of Universal Basic Income to mitigate job losses caused by the implementation of AI, which Lambert said will “ruin capitalism.”
“If anyone really wants to preserve capitalism, we have to oppose AI,” he said.
AI also erodes people’s sense of purpose, according to Lambert, citing the example of wealthy rock acts with musicians in their 70s and 80s who continue to tour, perform, write and release new music to maintain that purpose.
He also claimed to have a 1950 edition of The Cleveland Plain Dealer with ads taken out by families giving dates for when they would be on vacation and their home would be empty. He contrasted that with today, when he alleged it would serve as an open invitation to burglars, vandals and thieves.
“We had connection in our community,” Lambert said. “We had connection in our neighborhoods. We’ve lost a lot of that due to technology – AI has made that worse.”