The Warm Springs Watershed Association will hold its annual membership meeting on Wednesday, August 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 49 S. Green St., Berkeley Springs. Street parking is available, with additional parking behind the church. The meeting is open to the public, not just members of the organization.
As part of the meeting, Warm Springs Watershed member and former board member Michael Lynn will lead a presentation and discussion on artificial intelligence, focusing on the growing presence of AI data centers in West Virginia and what that development could mean for local communities and watersheds. 
The discussion will examine AI on two levels: how individuals use AI tools in their day-to-day lives, and the larger question of where and how the infrastructure supporting AI is built.
Recent data-center proposals in the state have prompted many residents to ask how these facilities will be powered, how much water they may use, and what role local communities should have in decisions about their siting and design.
The presentation will explore these questions, along with what it might look like for a community to be informed and meaningfully involved in the decision-making process.
This program is intended as an opportunity for community learning and discussion, not as a final word on AI. Warm Springs Watershed Association and the presenter welcomes attendees’ questions, concerns, and experiences with AI in their work, government, education, and daily lives.
Michael Lynn is the founder of AI & Ecology, a consultancy that helps environmental organizations understand and apply artificial intelligence in their work. He also leads Eastern Ecosystems, an ecological design and consulting practice, and has worked on watershed-restoration and nature-based-solutions projects throughout the United States and abroad.
The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the watershed association at WSWA2008@gmail.com.
