MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Monday evening, the Northern Michigan Alliance for Responsible Development held a community update event on A.I. data centers at the Ore Dock Brewing Company.
Recently pinned as an activist against A.I. data centers around the midwest, Wisconsin-based comedian Charlie Berens was a main face of the event, bringing hundreds together both at the brewery and online.
“I’m basically like a big dumb billboard, like a clown saying ‘come here’ and pointing to the experts,” he said. “There really just is an off-balance of information out there right now, so it’s just trying to even the playing field.”
The event covered everything from educational standpoints to regional effects, like what’s been experienced in Northern Lower Michigan and the Western Upper Peninsula, featuring virtual input from 3 separate points around the state.
Berens says adding comedy to the list of extra players creates a clear opportunity of unison.
“It’s good that people are coming together on this,” he said. “Whatever side they’re even on in it, to just be in the same room together and connecting, that’s a huge thing that we’ve started to lose. To add a little levity hopfeully helps, because people are understandably angry, frustrated and just broken down by this.”
Also at the event was Mark Jamrozek, a Marquette resident with a goal to share his voice of concern at multiple meetings around the county, hoping to gather more of an understanding on data centers, and a plan to assist in moratorium work.
“First and foremost, we’re Yoopers. We’re strong, we have grit,” he said. “Moving forward we can weather this too, but we have to do it smart and responsibly, and we have to be prepared.”
Berens holds over 10 million followers across his social media platforms. While he’s in a lul from a current stand-up comedy tour, visiting the Marquette area to take part in the activism shows just how important it is to himself and the midwest.
“The bottom line is for the U.P. to decide for the U.P., not for big tech to decide for the U.P.,” he said.
For more on the Northern Michigan Alliance for Responsible Development, visit here. You can find Charlie Berens on his social media pages here.
