Claim report cards
What AI caused—and what it merely gets blamed for.
Each card preserves the common wording, gives a grade, explains the mechanism and names the evidence still missing. Permalinks are built for citation.
claims are supported at least in part. This is a curated five-claim launch sample—not a prevalence estimate or quarterly Scapegoat Score.
“AI is driving the return of U.S. electricity-demand growth.”
Supported at the national demand levelYes, with one translation: the measured category is data centers, and AI servers are a major cause of their growth.
Open report card →Contested“AI raised my household electricity bill.”
Possible locally; unsupported as a national blanket claimA data center can affect a utility’s costs, but the bill effect depends on the approved tariff, dedicated-upgrade charges, fuel prices and who bears stranded-asset risk.
Open report card →Scapegoated“AI caused the transformer shortage.”
Overstated: AI adds demand to an older, multi-cause shortageDOE traces the shortage to post-pandemic demand, aging infrastructure, workforce constraints, raw materials and excessive product variation. Data centers are a new accelerator, not the origin.
Open report card →AI-contributing“AI is making ordinary memory and storage more expensive.”
The supply mechanism is documented; retail pass-through is notMicron directly reports a three-to-one HBM trade ratio with DDR5 and tight DRAM/NAND supply from AI and conventional server demand. That supports contribution, not a precise consumer surcharge.
Open report card →Scapegoated“Every AI prompt uses a bottle of water.”
A portable per-prompt constant is not supportedWorkload-level water use varies by more than 10,000-fold. Server efficiency, utilization, cooling, climate and the electricity source all change the answer.
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