Artificial intelligence, systemic risks, and sustainability

Galaz, Victor; Centeno, Miguel Ángel; Causevic, Amar; Brass, Irina; Baum, Seth D.; Farber, Darryl; Fischer, Joern; García, David; McPhearson, Timon; Jiménez, Daniel; King, B. R.; Larcey, Paul; Levy, Karen

doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101741

Cited by 190 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 73 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar trends may follow across Southeast Asia as food systems and agri-business become more digitalized [82]. In contrast to India, China's otherwise dominant role in AI-technologies [6] is not reflected in Google App stores [83]. Commercial apps were not in focus for this study, although some early examples from the region were present among the blogs (Table S1) we were unable to verify.…”

Section: The Drivers-developersmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Nevertheless, the combination of severe exposure to natural hazards and climate change in Southeast Asia with a high dependency on agriculture makes the relatively limited use of AI and digitalized information services remarkable [6]. As a result, there is an absence of studies on the supply of on-farm apps and particular factors explaining the limited use in Southeast Asia.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fourth agricultural revolution, or Agriculture 4.0, proliferated as a concept in the 2010s [1][2][3] by raising expectations about its contributions towards ensuring food security to a growing population using limited environmental resources and while minimizing its impacts on climate change [4]. In contrast to the Green Revolution's diffusion, of improved agriculture inputs, artificial intelligence (AI), technological precision (i.e., precision farming) and digital innovations are now expected to help farmers minimize inputs of water, fertilizers, and pesticides [1,[4][5][6]. In fact, the World Bank refers to "digital and non-digital innovations that enable farmers and agribusinesses to leapfrog" towards productivity, efficiency, competitiveness, nutrition outcomes and climate resilience, thereby including technologies ranging from mobile apps to bio-fortified foods, as 'Disruptive Agricultural Technologies'.…”

Section: Introduction 1the Push For Digital Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasingly however, it has come to include the public sharing and (passively, and sometimes unknowingly) sending data without transparency about what the data is used for [18]. Lack of transparency surrounding ownership and use of data collected by digital (agricultural) services has raised a range of concerns stemming from possibilities of AI-technologies introducing new systemic and sustainability risks [6], to ethical concerns about asymmetrical relationships between users and developers of those services [6,[19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introduction 1the Push For Digital Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework

Simelton¹,

McCampbell

2021

Agriculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Digital climate services can support agricultural management decisions under uncertain climatological conditions and may contribute to achieving the ambitions of the fourth agricultural revolution. However, do they encourage social and environmental aspects? Our analysis builds on the four dimensions of the Responsible Research and Innovation framework and evaluates, among other things, which production systems are promoted in climate service apps; how the services contribute to or challenge (inter)national targets for sustainable development, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience. From a longlist of apps, we present the best documented ones as case studies: nine weather-based and two non-weather-based digital services. We target apps of relevance for Southeast Asian smallholder farming systems, where both supply of and demand for such apps have this far been limited in contrast to the access to phones, and where particularly the supply of apps is poorly documented. The key findings point out several gaps. First, digitalization in Southeast Asia’s farming system is driven by foreign investments, while partnerships with public agencies, in particular national Met Offices, were rare. Services were developed for farmers but not necessarily with farmers, thereby overlooking needs and social factors such as (digital) literacy and trust. While some of the weather-based apps included more than one crop, they primarily support single solutions and none of them targeted mixed or integrated farming systems. This calls for developers of digital climate services to innovate applications in an inclusive manner, and to support governments in achieving their commitments to global climate, biodiversity, and sustainability goals. Difficulties in generating comparable information about the reviewed apps regardless of the study’s geographical focus demonstrates a need for more transparent means and protocols for users to assess and compare digital climate services.

show abstract

Section: The Drivers-developersmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction 1the Push For Digital Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction 1the Push For Digital Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework

Simelton¹,

McCampbell

2021

Agriculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Economic, social, and institutional obstacles have hampered the large-scale implementation of renewable energy technology. The current global pandemic [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)] has sent shockwaves worldwide ( Galaz et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas Based on the Analysis of Sustainable Digital Economy

Wang

Zhao

2021

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Technology has played a vital role in modifying the lifestyle of individuals and the emerging countries are progressing so fast as no one has ever thought before. With the progression of technology boosting, the pattern of energy resources consumption has also been the center of attention for researchers in this decade. China has been one of those countries that have adopted such energy strategies in its industrial regime. The economists and information technology (IT) working together have done wonders in digitalizing and sustaining the economies that will lead to sustainable development goals. This study has been an effort to understand the role of technology and the availability of affordable energy resources in obtaining a sustainable digital economy with the mediating role of sustainable development. The population of this study was IT professionals and economists. The survey data were collected from 285 respondents selected based on purposive sampling. The software adopted for data analysis was SmartPLS 3.3.3. This study showed that technology utilization had been an important predictor of sustainable development, contributing to a sustainable digital economy. Similarly, low operational cost also moderated the relationship of sustainable development and sustainable digital economy that has been the major focus of developing countries. Moreover, the strategy of cutting down the operation costs to bring it down to the level of affordability is a major challenge for the economies such as China that have been among the low production cost. Studies on the sustainable digital economy with respect to technological use are very limited. Hence, this study will find many advantages for economists and IT professionals in the future with respect to devising the strategies taking into account the sustainable development goals and the achievement of a sustainable digital economy.

show abstract

Artificial intelligence in the information ecosystem: Affordances for everyday information seeking

Hirvonen,

Jylhä,

Lao

et al. 2023

Asso for Info Science & Tech

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this conceptual article, we argue that artificial intelligence (AI) systems are contributing to the generation of an environment of affordances for everyday information practices through which they exert influence on people and the planet in ways that often are left unrecognized. We illustrate our insights by focusing on the practices of information seeking in everyday life, suggesting that the affordances of AI systems integrated into search engines, social media platforms, streaming services, and media generation, shape such practices in ways that may, paradoxically, result both in the increase and reduction of diversity of and access to information. We discuss the potential implications of these developments in terms of the sustainability of information ecosystems and suggest solutions for addressing them through regulation and education. Drawing from the fields of library and information science and science and technology studies and research on affordances, everyday information practices, and sustainability, the article seeks to respond to the need for more nuanced theoretical insights on the impact and implications of AI on information practices and to develop conceptual tools with which to examine the co‐evolution of humans and information systems from a systemic perspective.

show abstract

Artificial intelligence, systemic risks, and sustainability

Cited by 190 publications

References 73 publications

Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework

Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework

Energy Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Areas Based on the Analysis of Sustainable Digital Economy

Artificial intelligence in the information ecosystem: Affordances for everyday information seeking

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About