AI are companies finding copper and lithium much faster and cheaper than ever before. AI can cut costs by 30%, and some startups like KoBold Metals are now worth almost $3 billion. Yes, computers can find minerals 60% faster, and avoid drilling in the wrong spot. It looks smart: less waste, more minerals, fewer mistakes. Sound great

But, who owns the information? All this smart tech needs more powerful computers, more electricity, and, surprise, more minerals for the computers themselves! We are trying to solve one problem, but maybe creating another. Every layer of smarter AI needs more chips, more power, more rare metals. The same minerals that AI is supposed to help us extract efficiently are what power the AI itself. Every time we upgrade the algorithm, we increase the baseline for what is normal in mining costs, data acquisition, and infrastructure.

It's called the Red Queen effect: everyone runs faster just to stay in place

I come from a country where big foreign companies often take our raw materials. Now, I see it happening again, but with data. These new AI companies collect geological data from Africa, Asia, even Latin America, and build huge databases. They control the knowledge about where the best minerals are, not the local people or governments. It feels like a new kind of colonialism, but digital

Jobs are nice, and maybe there is some local tax money. But the real profit goes to people sitting in Silicon Valley or London, not those living above the mines. Another thing: Companies keep saying AI will help the environment because it wastes less. But if it makes mining even faster, are we just digging up the earth even quicker? Fewer failed holes = more "successes" = faster depletion. So much for the sustainability story