Assessing AI’s Environmental Impact: A Call for Sustainable Advancements

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, but its development and use can have unintended consequences on the environment and society. To address these challenges, researchers propose a framework for evaluating sustainability in AI, which considers various factors such as environmental impact, social benefits, and ethical considerations.
Environmental Sustainability: The article highlights the importance of considering the environmental impact of AI, including energy consumption, e-waste, and carbon footprint. The authors suggest using benchmarks like CO2 emissions to measure sustainability in AI systems.
Social Sustainability: The article emphasizes the need to evaluate AI’s social sustainability by considering factors such as privacy, data security, and fairness. The authors propose the use of indicators like health and well-being, education, and security to measure social sustainability in AI systems.
Governance and Ethics: The article stresses the significance of ethical considerations in AI development and use, including transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. The authors suggest using frameworks like ISO 26000 and legal frameworks to guide ethical decision-making in AI.
Limitations: The study acknowledges potential limitations due to the methodology chosen and the pace of AI development. The authors suggest future research on AI use cases and interviews with experts representing different groups of users and interests.
In conclusion, the article provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating sustainability in AI, emphasizing the need to consider environmental, social, and ethical factors. By using this framework, researchers and developers can create more responsible AI systems that prioritize sustainability and ethical considerations.