A chatbot entirely powered by humans, not artificial intelligence? This Chilean community shows why

About 50 members of a community outside Chile’s capital spent Saturday trying their best to power an entirely human-operated chatbot that could answer questions and make silly pictures on command, in a message to highlight the environmental toll and water usage of artificial intelligence data centers in the region. Organizers say the 12-hour project has fielded more than 25,000 requests from around the world, with more still coming in. The answers came from a rotating crew of volunteers working on laptops in a community center in Quilicura, a municipality at the urban edge of Santiago that has become a data center hub.