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EMBASSY SUITES BY HILTON, GRAND RAPIDS DOWNTOWN

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710 Monroe Avenue NW, Grand Rapids

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 – 7:00 AM

The conversation around artificial intelligence has accelerated from sci‑fi curiosity to real‑world concern, and not without reason. We’re being asked to trust systems we can’t see, decisions we can’t verify, and infrastructure most of us never knew existed. That unease is no longer confined to algorithms—it now reaches into the physical world, where data centers consume water, power, and attention in communities across the country.

Fear of AI, like many fears, often comes down to the unknown: who is watching, who is deciding, and what becomes of a lifetime of work when the tools change overnight. And now a second, more local concern is rising just as quickly: what these data centers mean for resources, noise, and tax burdens.

At our Wednesday, September 9th Breakfast Club meeting, Matthew Sutherland—founder of ByteFlowAI and an AI systems advisor—is back to unpack and explain these issues in plain English: what’s fair, what’s overstated, and how to read the headlines without panic. He’ll also take a closer look at the data center already operating in the old Steelcase pyramid.

Invocation: Eric Nelson
Introduction: Jeff Kissinger

Artificial Intelligence and Data Centers

1. “The best way to reduce fear of AI is to increase understanding. When people know how it works, they can shape how it’s used.” ~ Andrew Ng, AI pioneer
2. “Technology can do great things, but it doesn’t want to do great things. It doesn’t want anything. That part takes all of us.” ~ Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
3. “AI is not just code. It is made of vast extraction—of data, of labor, of water, of energy.” ~ Kate Crawford, AI researcher and author
4. “AI progress must be paired with responsible innovation. We have to build it in a way that earns trust.” ~ Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google