Production is underway on a new season! We're starting off strong with deep dives on how the AI boom is impacting our money. As a primer on the environmental impact of data centers, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit the episode: We Need to Talk About AI.

This episode originally aired on May 25, 2025.

When you ask ChatGPT to write a cover letter, make your grocery list, or edit an image, what's actually happening in the real world? As AI gets bigger by the day, it's requiring more and more energy, water, and land in communities around the world.

Tech companies are investing billions of dollars in data centers and technologies to power AI, but are they also investing in sustainable and equitable resources to keep it going?

Today, we’re going to take a step back from the chatbots to understand the true impact of AI, how we’re tracking and regulating that impact, and we’ll find out what it will take to build a sustainable future for AI with Shalolei Ren — associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California Riverside whose work focuses on AI for good.

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.
📞 Want to submit to the show? We'd love to hear from you!

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Kylie Kovatch, Artie Sadahiro, Nicole Collins, Parisa Golchoubian, Brian Stancheski
• Episode expert: Shaolei Ren
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:50) - GPT is search on steroids
• (07:07) - Our complicated relationship with AI
• (14:46) - Is AI taking all our water and power?
• (22:47) - Regulating the industry
• (31:23) - What's next?

We’re working on a new season of the Second Nature podcast, and we’re doing things a little bit differently this time around — More episodes on each topic. Deeper dives. Easier submission process. First up this season, we're tackling the question: How is AI Impacting Our Money?

For the best shot at getting on an episode, please send in your submissions before November 8. Submitting is easy!

1. Head to the submission form to see the questions and submit your audio.
2. Record your audio and attach it to the form, then hit send!

That's it! We'll let you know if we've featured your submission on the show.

📱 Want to make your money count? Download the Commons app .

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

• (00:00) - Marker 1

It seems that the modern world is in its isolation era, leaving us craving the easy comfort of irl camaraderie. Ideally, the kind that comes without the need to buy a ticket or split a bill. Because becoming a villager isn't just a salve for loneliness, it's a rebellion against consumerism.

After a whole season of following the money, we're wrapping up our finale contemplating how we can create community without it. We're hearing from our community about how they show up as villagers, and how they start their own villages. Turns out you don't need to bean extrovert, have a huge group chat, or be a pillar in your community. You just have to show up.

These relationships we make with our community create bonds that strengthen our ability to adapt in climate disasters, financial instability, and even supply chain woes. And getting started is easier than you think.

📱 Want to make your money count? Download the Commons app .

🌎 Find citations and further reading in the full show notes.

📞 Want to submit to the show? We'd love to hear from you!

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Nick Blocha, Elena Demireva, Tavia, Camila Bronson, Jen Horn, Lena
• Research: Makenna McBrierty
• Editing and engineering: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham