AI for Good and the SDGs

Abstract

In 2015, 193 nations cameAI for Good together to agree Agenda 2030Agenda 2030: 17 goals ranging from the elimination of poverty to the building of partnerships to achieve those goals. The spirit of the UN Sustainable Development GoalsSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (SDGs) is to leave no one behind. Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence (AI) has a great potential to assist in reaching the SDGs. For instance, using algorithmsAlgorithms on new and vast agricultural data sets can improve the efficiency of agriculture practices and thereby contribute to SDG 1, “Zero hunger”. However, the high energy consumption, computational resources and levels of expertise required for AIArtificial intelligence can exacerbate existing inequalitiesInequality. At the same time, potentially useful AI applications such as seasonal climate forecastingSeasonal climate forecasting have led to the accelerated laying off of workers in PeruPeru and credit denial to poor farmers in ZimbabweZimbabwe and BrazilBrazil. If AI for GoodAI for Good is to be truly realised, AI’s potential to worsen inequalityInequality, to overexploit resources, to be undertaken through “helicopter researchHelicopter research” and to focus on SDGSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) issues relevant mainly to high-income countries must be overcome, ideally in close collaboration and engagement with potential beneficiaries in resource-limited settingsResource-limited settings.