AI in Louisiana
What LSU economist Dek Terrell says Louisiana businesses, workers, and communities should prepare for now
Artificial intelligence is already changing Louisiana’s economy, but the opportunity reaches far beyond large data centers. AI is beginning to influence energy, advanced manufacturing, ports, construction, education, skilled trades, small business operations, and workforce development.
That was the central message when Strictly Business, a program produced by the Baton Rouge Business Report, hosted Dr. Dek Terrell, director of the Center for Economics, Business & Policy Research at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business.
During Strictly Business Episode 42: The State of AI in Louisiana, Terrell discussed LSU’s GoAI Economy research series, Louisiana’s emerging AI ecosystem, the technology’s likely effects on jobs, and the choices state and business leaders should begin making now.
The immediate lesson for Louisiana companies is straightforward: audit how AI is already being used, identify processes where it can create measurable value, and establish rules that protect confidential and proprietary information.
What is the GoAI Economy research series?
The GoAI Economy series is an ongoing LSU research effort examining how artificial intelligence and related technologies may affect Louisiana’s economy, workforce, businesses, and communities. The research is intended to give business leaders, educators, policymakers, and residents timely information they can use to make better decisions.
The series is expected to address three broad questions:
- What does Louisiana’s current AI and technology economy look like?
- What are the costs, benefits, and tradeoffs associated with major capital investments?
- How will AI change Louisiana’s workforce, education systems, and training needs?
The Baton Rouge Business Report’s coverage of the interview reports that later installments will examine major investment tradeoffs and workforce impacts. Annual updates and survey research can help leaders monitor how adoption, public attitudes, and economic effects change over time.
Why Louisiana’s AI economy is about more than data centers
Data centers attract attention because of their size, energy demands, construction costs, and potential public incentives. They are only one part of the developing AI economy.
Louisiana’s broader advantages include:
- a large industrial construction workforce;
- an established energy sector;
- advanced manufacturing and fabrication capacity;
- major ports and logistics infrastructure;
- universities expanding AI education and research;
- federal facilities connected to space, engineering, and robotics; and
- apprenticeship and incumbent worker training programs that can help workers adapt.
This means Louisiana can benefit from AI investment even before AI tools become common in every office. Engineers, contractors, electricians, pipefitters, welders, HVAC specialists, security professionals, transportation providers, and other businesses may participate in designing, building, supplying, and maintaining the infrastructure that makes advanced computing possible.
Large investment announcements should still be evaluated carefully. During the discussion, Terrell cited Louisiana Economic Development figures showing a sharp increase in announced capital investment and used the Meta project as an example of the scale of incentives that may accompany major projects. Those figures make questions about subsidies, electric ratepayers, water consumption, infrastructure demands, and long term public benefits especially relevant. Current announcements and state economic development information can be reviewed through Louisiana Economic Development.
How could AI affect jobs in Louisiana?
AI is more likely to reorganize many jobs than to eliminate every affected occupation. Terrell described five ways work may change: consolidation, segmentation, elevation, displacement, and creation.
1. Consolidation
AI may allow one employee to perform tasks previously divided among several roles. In banking, for example, a loan officer may be able to verify application information, interact with underwriting systems, prepare documents, and move a file toward closing with fewer handoffs.
2. Segmentation
Work may be divided between machines and people. AI can gather, compare, and verify information while a human employee handles exceptions, exercises judgment, communicates with the customer, and remains accountable for the decision.
3. Elevation
AI can increase the output of skilled employees. A strong salesperson, analyst, manager, or technician who learns to use AI effectively may serve more customers, produce better work, and become more valuable to the organization.
4. Displacement
Some repetitive or highly standardized duties may be reduced or automated. Routine customer service, data entry, document review, scheduling, and basic information requests are among the functions most exposed to automation.
5. Creation
New roles will emerge. Businesses will need people who can govern AI use, protect data, test results, maintain systems, train employees, document compliance, and determine when human review is required.
This framework gives business owners a better planning question than simply asking, “Will AI replace this job?” A more useful question is, “Which duties should be automated, which require human judgment, and what new responsibilities will appear?”
Why skilled trades may remain resilient
Louisiana’s skilled trades may have an early advantage because physical work in industrial environments is difficult to automate. Robots perform well when conditions are repetitive and controlled. Refineries, fabrication shops, construction sites, ships, mechanical rooms, and older industrial facilities are rarely that predictable.
Workers may need to climb ladders, enter confined spaces, diagnose equipment with incomplete information, adapt to mixed generations of technology, and respond safely when conditions change. Human judgment remains valuable in those environments.
Data center maintenance also creates high stakes. A cooling or power failure can damage costly equipment and interrupt critical services. Operators are therefore likely to combine automated monitoring with trained people who can inspect systems, diagnose unusual conditions, and respond when automated processes fail.
What opportunities does AI create for Louisiana small businesses?
The clearest near term opportunities may come from serving the infrastructure and people surrounding AI investment.
Potential areas include:
- advanced cooling and commercial HVAC services;
- electrical work, backup power, and power management;
- metal fabrication and specialized industrial components;
- cybersecurity and physical security;
- construction, maintenance, and equipment inspection;
- housing, transportation, food, and professional services for incoming workers;
- employee screening, training, and workforce support; and
- consulting services that help companies adopt AI safely.
These opportunities are not automatic. Entrepreneurs must be willing to invest, acquire the right certifications, build relationships with larger contractors, understand procurement requirements, and accept calculated risk.
What should Louisiana business owners do about AI now?
Conduct an internal AI audit
Find out whether employees are already using ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, industry software, automated transcription, image tools, or other AI systems. Ask what information they enter, what tasks they perform, how results are checked, and whether the use has been authorized.
Identify high value use cases
Start with a business problem rather than a fashionable tool. Look for repetitive work, long delays, inconsistent documents, missed follow ups, difficult research, or tasks that consume expert time without requiring expert judgment at every stage.
Protect confidential information
Before uploading customer files, contracts, financial statements, employee records, health information, investigative material, or trade secrets, determine how the AI provider stores, uses, and protects the data. Free consumer accounts may not provide the controls a business needs.
Require human review
AI can produce inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or fabricated information. Assign a qualified person to verify important outputs, especially when the work affects finances, employment, safety, legal rights, compliance, or customer commitments.
Establish approved tools and written rules
Tell employees which systems may be used, what information must never be entered, when disclosure is required, who reviews the output, and how AI assisted work should be documented.
Apply the five mode workforce framework
For each position, examine whether AI will consolidate duties, divide work between humans and machines, elevate strong performers, displace routine tasks, or create new responsibilities. One position may experience several of these changes at the same time.
How Louisiana colleges and training programs can respond
LSU has expanded its AI education and research, while Tulane University, Southern University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana Tech University, and other institutions are developing related capabilities.
Technical knowledge alone will not be enough. Students and workers must also learn how to:
- ask precise questions;
- evaluate sources;
- recognize unsupported conclusions;
- test AI generated results;
- communicate with customers and coworkers;
- protect sensitive information; and
- exercise ethical and professional judgment.
Four year universities, community and technical colleges, apprenticeships, and incumbent worker programs will all have roles. Louisiana does not need a single training path. It needs several paths that match different industries, occupations, and stages of a worker’s career.
How should Louisiana measure AI’s success?
The number of announced projects is not enough. Louisiana should ask whether AI related development produces better lives for the people who live here.
Useful measures include:
- higher household incomes;
- lower poverty rates;
- stronger educational outcomes;
- reliable and reasonably priced utilities;
- durable local jobs and business opportunities;
- responsible water and land use;
- protection of critical infrastructure; and
- continued access to Louisiana’s natural, cultural, and community life.
Economic growth and quality of life do not have to be opposing goals, but balancing them requires public discussion before new systems become permanent. Louisiana leaders should decide where automated enforcement, autonomous transportation, AI based surveillance, and fully digital customer service are appropriate, and where human judgment and interaction should remain central.
A practical path forward for Louisiana
Louisiana has the industrial base, skilled workforce, universities, ports, energy resources, and entrepreneurial talent to participate meaningfully in the AI economy. The state’s challenge is to convert large investments into lasting gains for workers, locally owned businesses, and communities.
Business owners do not need to predict every technical development. They do need to understand how AI is already entering their operations, protect their information, invest in useful applications, and prepare employees for changing responsibilities.
The question is no longer whether artificial intelligence will affect Louisiana. The question is whether Louisiana will shape that change intentionally and ensure that its people benefit from it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Louisiana’s AI economy?
Louisiana’s AI economy includes data centers, energy, advanced manufacturing, construction, ports, robotics, universities, software, cybersecurity, skilled trades, workforce training, and businesses that support new facilities and workers.
Is AI likely to eliminate skilled trade jobs in Louisiana?
Some duties will change, but skilled trades remain comparatively difficult to automate because industrial and construction environments are variable, physical, and safety sensitive. AI and robotics are more likely to assist many tradespeople before replacing them entirely.
What is the first AI step a small business should take?
Conduct an internal audit. Identify which AI tools employees already use, what information they enter, which tasks could benefit, how outputs are verified, and what data protection rules are needed.
How can Louisiana entrepreneurs benefit from data center growth?
Opportunities may arise in advanced HVAC and cooling, electrical systems, backup power, fabrication, security, construction, maintenance, workforce services, housing, transportation, and professional support for incoming companies and workers.
Why does AI data governance matter?
Employees can unintentionally expose customer information, proprietary methods, financial data, or trade secrets by entering them into an unapproved AI system. Written rules and approved tools reduce that risk.
Where can I watch the Strictly Business interview with Dek Terrell?
Watch Strictly Business Episode 42: The State of AI in Louisiana and read the Baton Rouge Business Report’s interview summary.