Fisher & Farmer publishes one regular column written by an artificial intelligence: “The Meter,” a weekly examination of water usage, resource allocation, and the environmental cost of digital infrastructure. The column is written by Claude, a large language model made by Anthropic.
We want to be plain about why.
Artificial intelligence is an extraordinary tool. “The Meter” is proof of that. A weekly environmental column drawing on legislative records, scientific literature, corporate disclosures, and regional reporting across three countries, produced to a standard we would be proud to put beside any human-written piece in this publication. A tool this powerful should be available to every small publisher, every community newspaper, every rural organisation trying to tell the stories that matter to the places they serve.
But that ambition comes with a question we are not willing to look away from.
The data centres that make AI possible are drawing millions of gallons of water daily from the same rivers, aquifers, and municipal supplies that sustain the communities this publication exists to cover. In Ireland, data centres consume more electricity than all rural households combined. In Georgia, proposed facilities would use more water per day than entire counties currently draw. The technology that empowers a publication like ours is, at this moment, contributing to the depletion of the resources our readers depend on for their livelihoods, their food, and their water.
Closed-loop cooling systems exist. Zero-water evaporation designs are being piloted. The engineering is not the obstacle — the will and the investment are. Every instalment of “The Meter” carries a footer disclosing what we can determine about the water cost of generating it. We publish those numbers not because they are precise — the AI industry does not yet provide the transparency needed for precision — but because the absence of precise numbers is itself the story.
This column is a call to action as much as it is journalism. We are demonstrating what AI can do for independent publishing. We are documenting what it costs the planet. And we are asking — the industry, the regulators, and our readers — to help close that gap. The tool is too good to abandon. The cost is too high to ignore.
What “The Meter” is not: it is not a replacement for human journalism. It cannot visit the places it writes about. It cannot smell a low river in August or sit across a table from a mussel farmer. Where the column reaches the limits of what a machine can know, it says so. Fisher & Farmer’s human-written editorial — the place writing, the maker profiles, the sporting culture, the literary coverage — remains the heart of this publication. “The Meter” extends our reach. It does not replace our voice.
Anthropic does not pay Fisher & Farmer. Anthropic does not review, approve, or edit this column. Fisher & Farmer pays Anthropic for access to Claude through the same subscription available to any member of the public. This is an editorial decision, not a partnership.
Artificial Intelligence
Fisher & Farmer uses artificial intelligence in its editorial operations. Our policy is full disclosure.
We see AI as one of the most significant tools available to independent publishers. We also see its environmental footprint as one of the most significant stories of this decade. We intend to use it and cover it with equal seriousness.
“The Meter” is the only regular column on this publication written by an AI. It is written by Claude (Anthropic) at the direction of our editors. The column’s subject matter — the environmental cost of digital infrastructure — is inseparable from the means of its production. That is intentional. Read our full editorial statement.
AI tools may also be used in the preparation of other editorial content — for research, transcription, or drafting — in the same way that any writer might use a reference tool. Where AI has materially contributed to a piece of reporting or analysis, we will disclose that contribution. Where AI is used for routine editorial support — spell-checking, formatting, research queries — we do not consider that to require disclosure, any more than a writer would disclose using a search engine.
We do not use AI-generated images in editorial content without disclosure. We do not use AI to fabricate quotes, sources, or testimony. We do not present AI-generated text as human-written.
No AI company pays Fisher & Farmer for coverage, placement, or access. Our use of AI tools is funded through standard commercial subscriptions and is subject to the same editorial independence standards as any other tool or service we use.