It's Not Just Gaming Consoles

I read an article today that said Microsoft is increasing the price of the Xbox console.  I already own the Xbox, and I'm a very casual gamer, so to me this in and of itself isn't a huge deal.  It is, however, a result of a larger supply and demand problem, and the root cause is Artificial Intelligence.  In a nutshell, the AI boom is creating a huge increase in demand for RAM... specifically the RAM needed for video cards.

The thing is, increasing RAM production is not a simple process.  It's wildly expensive to build a new manufacturing plant, and the ongoing costs are expensive as well, because most hardware requires an environment that's for all intents and purposes cleaner than a hospital.

The economic law of supply and demand indicates that if demand increases and supply does not, prices must increase to maintain purchasing equilibrium.  This makes suppliers want to increase supply so they make more money, but as I said, it's not easy in this case.  The end result is that we have higher costs for everything that uses RAM.  This means that gaming consoles and computers cost more.  It's not just gaming consoles.

My big questions are "Is it worth it," and if so "to what extent?"  We as a society are spending billions of dollars to build data centers.  These data centers are consuming vast amounts of natural resources to continually power and cool these data centers.  The payoff is still unproven, and the most widely-seen consequence is a massive disruption in the labor market.

So... big companies are making money hand over fist... real people are losing their jobs... real people are paying higher prices for everything from computers to electricity to water.  I say again... it's not just gaming consoles.  I ask again, is it worth it?  And if so, to what extent?