Linking artificial intelligence to sustainable development
By: Asad Pervaiz
Tags: United Nations, Sustainability, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Development

Prominently depicted in science fiction movies as the benchmark of futuristic worlds, artificial intelligence has today already proved its worth in our reliability on high-tech functionality for modern societies. The basic outline of artificial intelligence is comprised of the ability to solve complex cognitive tasks at levels comparable to human intelligence. Artificial intelligence has also been known to recognize logical problems and come up with benefitting solutions. However, the original concept behind artificial intelligence included the upraise of machines to facilitate an easy fulfillment of common human tasks. Nowadays, artificial intelligence is being increasingly ubiquitous in various global industries with immense potential to impact economies and societies around the world.

In today’s age of sustainable development, artificial intelligence can have a profound influence on the Sustainable Development Goals set to define the development agenda for countries. In 2015, an initiative of the United Nations called The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development put forward a blueprint in front of the world. The blueprint is based around 17 crucial Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations hopes to achieve by 2030 as the result of a global partnership. The SDGs are aimed at ensuring prosperity and peace for people around the globe to subsequently form a sustainable future. Artificial intelligence can have a significant influence on devising technological strategies for solving global issues like poverty, education, and climatic change and stimulate world economic growth. It is rapidly giving rise to a new frontier with revolutionary changes in governmental policy-making and corporate practices. The endless capabilities of artificially intelligent robotics and machines involve problem-solving cognizance regarding sustainability at surprising understanding levels of human intelligence.

In recent years, many countries have realized that there is a severe need to push their systems towards sustainable development and address the most intractable problems through contributions and collaborations. For this, artificial intelligence has largely been prioritized to manage sustainable development through good governance, social development, economic development, and environmental protection. Artificial intelligence can be integrated into essential initiatives that independently and mutually reinforce the fundamentals of sustainable development. Artificial intelligence induces a novel and dynamic aspect towards defining problems and proposing their solutions with the involvement of a phenomenal amount of data related to global sustainability.

Since its inception, artificial intelligence has come a long way in the race of achieving sustainability. It has also led to the emergence of various research innovators in academic frameworks and industrial trades through the incorporation of experiments with theories and thought processes to address problems and create their practical solutions. Therefore, it is no surprise that the visionary standpoints of artificial intelligence have brought in investments, by governments and private stakeholders, for various sustainability projects particularly surrounding the SDGs. Hailing it as a revolutionary breakthrough, many have projected the utilization of artificial intelligence as an ineludible means for attaining elevated economic growth and global prosperity.

However, there is a considerable portion of individuals that have raised their concerns over artificial intelligence and portrayed a more dismal image of a future affiliated with it. In contrast to its advocators, these people believe that artificial intelligence will actually hinder sustainable development by yielding exacerbation and inequity in global economics that can potentially befall humanity towards devastating existential crises. There are currently two categorizations of artificial intelligence that include narrow artificial intelligence (NAI) and artificial general intelligence (AGI). Including all of its modern modes, NAI possesses a weak framework of artificial intelligence. Whereas, AGI is proving to be feasible due to its proliferating applications despite its theoretical principles. As a subset of AGI, human-level machine intelligence (HLMI) is being deemed as an effective benchmark to solve complex tasks at the real-life human intellectual level. HLMI is the cause of concerns for people who fear that, through HLMI, artificial intelligence could take up human jobs and potentially replace humankind as the apex species on Earth.

While developments in AGI have mainstreamed bio-humanoid robots, there have been rising concerns over the future of artificial intelligence which have downgraded its prospects for sustainable development. There have been further attempts towards advancements in the accumulation and distribution of data that can massively displace jobs in the wake of improved and effective production. These impactful advancements can be too much for the current frameworks and therefore come in conflict with the 1st SDG (No Poverty) and 9th SDG (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). This would be particularly devastating for developing countries where the degradation of laborer’s rights and unemployment are prevalent. Furthermore, critics of artificial intelligence comment on a growing naivety that the future owners of artificial intelligence would widely ensure just distribution of its rewards. They believe that the ownership of artificially intelligent technologies would concentrate wealth and widen the gap between current global systems and sustainably developed systems. In this way, countries can face widespread disparity with artificial intelligence coming in conflict with the 10th SDG (Reduced Inequalities). With a constant increase in systems performing faster and better by artificial intelligence, there can be an inevitably growing pressure on human psychology due to the calamitous future of employment.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize multiple aspects of the world for the pursuit of sustainable development. It can enable businesses towards achieving the SDGs by promoting economic growth and addressing the impact of our activities. The utilization of artificially intelligent applications can place innovators at the forefront of sustainable development with enhanced efficiencies in technology and resources due to multi-sector partnerships between countries. However, artificial intelligence can be termed as a double-edged sword due to various potential risks affiliated with it. There would be a rigorous need of managing its limits to contain unintended consequences. Any illicit usage can potentially worsen processes like global warming and pollution and facilitate the capitalistic global economic order rather than addressing them.

The prevalence of partnerships and incentives between governments and corporations is bound to extravagate the transformative applications of artificial intelligence to the point of no return. The wise usage of artificial intelligence for sustainability projects only can yield sustainable business opportunities with effective connections and access between people. However, there is a severe need to keep the usage in check which is why the academic sector has a huge part to play in the induction of artificial intelligence in daily life. They must address the potential drawbacks as well as the beneficial opportunities of artificial intelligence through specifically developed curriculum and policies. In this way, future generations can prepare themselves for what artificial intelligence holds for them in the face of sustainable development.