“AI use is exploding...data centers are being built as fast as possible around the world to stay apace with this growth.”
What, specifically, is AI? Perhaps examples are the only way to describe it.
Why does AI specifically increase demand for data centers?
My opinion until someone changes it is that AI is just the normal progression of computer hardware and software.
And see my tagline.
As an aside, AI may be the normal or natural progression of computer software and hardware, as you say. But it also represents a quantum leap in the progression of such.
As an aside, there are things about the way that large language models/machine learning systems behave when trained on massive amounts of data that their designers/builders/scientists don't understand ("the black box effect").
Changing (adapting, growing) your opinion is your responsibility. Not someone else's.