A powerful tool we have to use more
The climate catastrophe is the greatest challenge facing humanity. But it is not enough to focus on solutions for this challenge alone.
We must achieve sustainable development.
Therefore the UN has defined 17 sustainability goals [1].
Source: https://sdgs.un.org/
These go from the fight against hunger and poverty to health , education and equality to the preservation of our environment and nature and the fight against climate catastrophe. For all topics there are concrete goals to be achieved by 2030. The issues are interconnected and the complexity is high. Decisions in one area can result in positive or negative changes in other areas
Only if we keep all the goals in mind and address them successfully do we have a chance of a Sustainable Future for humanity.
AI will (have to) play a crucial role in this. Complex questions with lots of data are ideal conditions for the use of AI. There is more than enough of that here.
But AI is also part of the problem. By consuming energy in the development and use of AI. By using AI solutions with negative consequences for sustainability goals.
We need to look at both sides.
It’s clear to me that AI is much more of a solution than a problem. If we use AI technologies and are aware of the possible negative sides – and actively address this. The negative aspects will be looked at in more detail in a next post
This post is about the opportunities AI offers us today.
About examples of how AI can contribute to sustainability.
About how this is seen and applied (or not) in business.
And about the question of what we can do personally to make better use of AI’s possibilities.
How can AI help? Some examples.
There are many areas where AI is making a positive contribution to sustainability goals.
Some examples:
- Creating Global Transparency of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (https://www.climatetrace.org/).
- An early warning system to help farmers in Africa avoid the next plague of locusts (https://www.selinawamucii.com/kuzi/)
- Monitoring deforestation in the Amazon (https://www.maaproject.org/en/)
- A solution to the problem of lack of access to health care for half the world’s population (https://unimadx.com/findtb)
- Increasing the effectiveness of social spending (https://kimetrica.com/)
There are many other examples. Optimizing transportation and logistics, better diagnosing diseases and developing effective therapies and medicines, optimizing energy consumption and energy extraction.
The International Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO (IRCAI) [2] has compiled a list of 100 particularly noteworthy examples of the use of artificial intelligence for sustainable development and for the benefit of humanity.
Examples for all UN SDG goals can be found here
The World Economic Forum sees AI as a critical factor in the race to achieve the SDGs [3].
What is industry doing?
In industry, the topic of sustainability is becoming increasingly important
In a survey conducted by McKinsey at the end of 2021 [4], forty percent of expert respondents expect corporate sustainability programs to add value in the next five years – nearly twice as many as today.
Source: McKinsey
Sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in the quarterly reports of publicly traded companies. This is shown by statistics from GlobalData for Q1 2022 [5]
Source: InvestmentMonitor
In the new report from BCG and the AI for the Planet Initiative [6] on “How can AI be a Powerful Tool in the Fight against Climate Change” [7], 87% of respondents say AI can be a very helpful tool. However, only 43% of the organizations have an idea of how they can use AI. In Germany it is even only 30%.
Source: BCG
Source: BCG
Why we don’t yet use AI to the extent possible.
The survey [7] identifies 3 key reasons:
- Insufficient access to AI knowledge and experts inside or outside the organization
- Limited availability of AI solutions and products
- Lack of confidence in AI data and analytics.
In addition, from my point of view, in the industrialized countries, especially in Europe but also in the USA, there are the following additional reasons
- Skepticism in the population, the knowledge about AI is still limited to a small group.
- Access to data is often not available to develop AI solutions (examples health)
- Transfer of scientific knowledge into commercial solutions takes too long and is too complicated
- the few experts are often used for commercially successful but unsustainable developments (example social media consumption)
BCG shows in the study [7] an interesting framework for using AI to fight the climate crisis. This can be used for the topic of sustainability and can be used as a basis for discussions in and with companies.
Source: BCG
What can we do?
What can we do to better leverage the power of AI to strengthen sustainability and combat climate catastrophe?
A few ideas:
As business owners and as employees, we can actively discuss the topic and ask how AI can be used more in the company especially for sustainability. Examples and frameworks are a good start.
As consumers, we can use the topic of sustainability more strongly as an argument for (or against) a product or company when making our buying decisions. This will give more attention to the topic and give more weight to the implementation of AI projects and products.
As a private person, we can talk about the possibilities of AI with our families and friends or through our (social) networks and make the topic better known. The fear of AI decreases as soon as people understand what is behind it and what positive impact the use of AI can have.
As citizens, we can demand and promote the open use of data in politics and society – especially with a focus on sustainability. This will enable more and better AI solutions.
As investors, we can promote startups and companies that have a focus on sustainable solutions with AI. We need the innovative power of startups to come up with new solutions faster.
As parents, we can teach our children about AI and give them the basics to understand the technology. They will need this in any case.
These are a few ideas. If we think about it, we each find more opportunities.
AI is not the solution to our challenges – but it is an important part of it.
However, it is we humans who must implement it.
Book tip
Finally, a book tip that fits this topic but from another perspective
Rudger Bregman: Humankind
https://www.rutgerbregman.com/books
Rudger Bregman [8] shows in his book that that it is realistic to assume that people are good. He refutes the old theory that Human beings are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest That we can only live together peacefully through civilization, hierarchies and a disciplining states.
It is a positive book, but not at all naive.
It gives hope especially in the difficult times we are experiencing. Because if we were basically selfish, there is no reason for us to change anything about the crises of this time. That’s what “the state” has to do, “the politicians” or “the powerful”. But if we are basically good, then it is up to us, to each individual, to change things for the better.
Highly recommended
Links
[1] UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)
https://sdgs.un.org/
[2] IRCAI – AI and Sustainability Top 100 Projects
https://ircai.org/global-top-100-outstanding-projects/results/
[3] World Economic Forum – Why artificial intelligence is vital in the race to meet the SDGs
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/05/artificial-intelligence-sustainable-development-goals/
[4] McKinsey Global Surveys, 2021
https://cdn.ksrinc.com/mckinseysurvey/McKinsey-Global-Surveys-2021-A-year-in-review.pdf
[5] InvestmentMonitor
https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/sdgs/esg-sdgs-key-mentions-earnings-calls-q1-2022
[6] AI for the Planet Alliance
https://aifortheplanet.org/en/
[7] How AI Can Be a Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Climate Change – BCG and AI for the Planet Report>
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/how-ai-can-help-climate-change
[8] Rudger Bregman
https://www.rutgerbregman.com
