CAN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) HELP US CREATE MORE SUSTAINABLE IMPACT IN THE WORLD?

APRIL 2021// BY SMRITI MISHRA & DONNIE SC LYGONIS

For the past five-ten years, the use of artificial intelligence in all industries worldwide has increased to the point that we have even started hearing warnings about it.

One of the most heard-of ones came in 2015 when a number of prominent people like Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Max Tegmark signed an open letter, warning us to take AI seriously [1]. 

And yes, with seemingly all countries competing in a mad dash to win the AI race, it can feel like we are hurtling down the rabbit hole without any concern for where we are going or what might happen. However, on the other side of that coin is a number of positive possibilities as well. 

How is AI helping create more sustainable impact in the world? 

Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are already using AI to reduce their carbon footprint [2]. Google's DeepMind has developed an artificial intelligence system that shows how to minimize energy consumption to cool Google's data center. This allowed Google to reduce the energy consumption of its data center by 40%. Google also provides a public cloud solution called Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which other companies can use to reduce their carbon footprint [3]. 

Below are a few more examples of how AI can be used to support and create sustainability impact and help reach the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). 

In agriculture, farmers can use ultra-local weather forecasts to better understand when to tend to their crops as they face the challenges due to climate change and increased pollution. Artificial intelligence can also be used for monitoring plant health and weed control, faster harvesting, pest control, etc. One German startup PEAT has developed Plantix, an application that uses image recognition technology with artificial intelligence capabilities that can detect nutritional deficiencies in the soil, add resistance to pests and diseases, and provide farmers with recommendations on the use of fertilizers to improve the quality of the harvest [4]. 

In real estate, the power of being able to collect and analyse huge datasets come into play. Launched by IBM, the TRIRIGA application uses AI in real estate to efficiently manage office space. The system learns how people are actually using space, collecting data from various sources such as Wi-Fi and connected sensors and then creates visual representations that are easy to base decisions on [5]. 

In energy, startups like Heimdal Power and Greenlytics are using artificial intelligence to optimize the power grids (Heimdal) and to optimize usage of different power sources (Greenlytics), both saving large amounts of energy and costs [6][7]. 

In automotive, the electric autonomous car is probably the crown jewel of AI, but artificial intelligence and IoT have been widely used for a lot more. In electric vehicles to improve battery charging through AI and real-time monitoring of the operating conditions of electric vehicle batteries while charging. In addition, with the help of artificial intelligence and IoT tools, emergency contacts can be contacted immediately in the event of an accident. New smart heads-up-displays (HUD's) are being developed to enable your connected vehicle to notify you of impending danger. And of course, logistics and electric autonomous vehicles are the perfect match, with companies like Einride developing automated logistics trucks with artificial intelligence [8].

In health, both physical and mental, AI is playing a big part in making health diagnosis more holistic. We have until now often considered mental and physical health as two separate disciplines, but when we use AI in neuroscience tools to track mental health, we bring it closer to physical health diagnosis. And when we can track both physical as well as mental data, health professionals will be able to see a complete picture of the patient.

Going further, mental diseases affect organs such as the heart, again data that can be tracked by AI and presented in a way to help reduce mental health stigma. Limbix, located in the United States, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology for diagnosis and provides clinicians with innovative tools and technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness for adolescents [9].

Finally, in environmental sustainability, one of the keys is awareness. To stop or reverse climate change, we need to be able to collect and analyse huge amounts of data, something that would be impossible without the use of AI. Earthbanc, a Swedish startup (where one of the co-authors of this article works) uses AI to respond to climate change by creating frugal, accessible and reliable carbon monitoring and verification models that they deliver to banks, financial institutions and asset managers helping them do more climate aware investments and asset management [10].

What are your best examples of artificial intelligence helping create positive impact and SDG alignment? Or, which examples would you like to see? What do you see artificial intelligence helping us do? 

Please add in the comments below, and please comment in general as well, we welcome the discussion!

REFERENCES:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_on_ Artificial_Intelligence 

2. https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-googlemicrosoft-green-clouds-and-hyperscale-datacenters/

3. https://www.computerworld.com/article/30983 25/googles-deepmind-ai-can-slash-datacenter-power-use-40.html

4. https://peat.technology

5. https://www.ibm.com/se-en/products/tririga? p1=Search&p4=43700058967214185&p5=e&g clid=Cj0KCQjwgtWDBhDZARIsADEKwgOxNm7Q EqBQe3wxs1hRAp2AqoVtPsHA2kN863TYG266 oW3dY5Acnl8aAoqnEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

6. https://heimdallpower.com

7. https://greenlytics.io

8. https://www.einride.tech

9. https://www.limbix.com

10. https://earthbanc.io