This is Bezzy. Bezzy needs you to welcome it into your home. Embrace it, and it will repay you with its mind-numbing, forever hum. It’s cute, it’s cuddly, and it just might call into question the real-world impacts of AI.
Bezzy is part of Adopt A Data Center, a satirical project created by New York-based creative studio Basura for music band Big Data. Its incessant hum comes from an original recording from a resident Basura interviewed, who lives near a data center in Virginia. Data centers may be out of sight for most people, but they will keep expanding to more and more places. For communities living near data centers, there are persistent noise and physical effects on water quality, air quality, and energy consumption. Bezzy turns those less visible consequences into something people can hold.
For Rajeev Basu, founder of Basura, the project is about the promises of technological progress and the real experiences of the people living alongside it. “Adopt A Data Center examines the stories we are sold, versus the reality communities experience, as one of the greatest revolutions in human history plays out,” Basu explained.
The project also reflects Big Data’s interest in the changing relationship between humans and machines. The project launches alongside Big Data’s first major album in seven years, following the success of its hit “Dangerous,” which similarly explored the complicated relationship between people and technology. “Big Tech encroaches into every area of our lives. We’re rarely totally happy about the benefits, but we’re also powerless. AI data centers are like the physical embodiment of that same feeling,” said Alan Wilkis of Big Data.
Bezzy turns a complicated technological and ethical issue into something personal. The toy’s soft design and cheerful expression invite a hug, while its nauseating hum is a harsh reminder that its effects are hard to ignore. So, if you’re ready to adopt a data center, Bezzy is waiting. Just don’t expect it to let you sleep in peace.
Adopt A Data Center is a satirical project by creative studio Basura, in collaboration with band Big Data, commenting on AI data centers moving into and disturbing communities.
Give Bezzy a hug, and it’ll react with the unsettling hum of a real data center in Virginia.
The project explores the exchange between evolving technology and the costs it demands from unwitting people.
Basura: Website | Instagram
Big Data: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Basura.
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