The Rise of Artificial Intelligence under the Lens of Sustainability

TLDR

Artificial intelligence, first explored in the 1950s, has recently accelerated due to advances in technology and algorithms, prompting widespread corporate interest while leaving its long‑term societal implications uncertain. The authors aim to examine how AI affects society by analyzing its impacts across five sustainability dimensions. They structure their analysis around the five sustainability dimensions—environmental, economic, social, technological, and governance—to assess AI’s effects. Their study reveals that AI exerts both positive and negative influences on all five dimensions, underscoring the importance of value, collaboration, shared responsibility, and ethics for sustainable AI development, and provides a basis for further research.

Abstract

Since the 1950s, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a recurring topic in research. However, this field has only recently gained significant momentum because of the advances in technology and algorithms, along with new AI techniques such as machine learning methods for structured data, modern deep learning, and natural language processing for unstructured data. Although companies are eager to join the fray of this new AI trend and take advantage of its potential benefits, it is unclear what implications AI will have on society now and in the long term. Using the five dimensions of sustainability to structure the analysis, we explore the impacts of AI on several domains. We find that there is a significant impact on all five dimensions, with positive and negative impacts, and that value, collaboration, sharing responsibilities; ethics will play a vital role in any future sustainable development of AI in society. Our exploration provides a foundation for in-depth discussions and future research collaborations.