The Many-Body Problem of the Data Centre
2026-06-29 • Artificial Intelligence
Artificial IntelligenceComputers and Society
AI summaryⓘ
The authors argue that modern AI's limits are not because it lacks a physical body, but because its 'body' is actually the Data Centre where it operates. They compare Data Centres to living organisms, noting how they fulfill roles connected to human desires but do not have desires themselves. This analogy breaks down when considering the role of Capital (economics), which values both human labor and AI similarly. The authors suggest that Capital helps assign clear value to intelligence, making it comparable whether it comes from living beings or machines.
Artificial IntelligenceData CentreEmbodimentCapitalismOrganismic AnalogyMany-body ProblemComputationHuman DesireAutomationLabour
Authors
Marcin Korecki, Cesare Carissimo
Abstract
Modern Artificial Intelligence is often framed as limited by its own disembodiment, as if giving it a body would unlock its true potential. We argue to the contrary that it is the Data Centre that is, in many cases, the body of the AI. At the same time, the Data Centre is part of the labouring body of Capital and possesses staggering organismic qualities when seen through a biological lens. We elucidate the organic analogy and identify the many-body problem that stems from the Data Centre being a non-unique, universal form of embodiment. We identify the intimate connection between computation and human desires in how the Data Centre archives, serves, and computes on data born to the desires of humans. Strikingly, while the Data Centre echoes the ghosts of human desires, it acts without desire of its own. The organismic analogy begins to split at its seams, but Capital does not care. Automata and human labour are priced into the market much the same. We argue that through the pricing of artificial intelligence Capital distils most clearly the value of intelligence and allows for its comparison across the organism - mechanism divide.