The arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be a watershed moment in technological history. AI can process vast amounts of data, revolutionise digital infrastructure and make any number of tasks vastly more efficient. At the same time, there are both concerns about its responsible use, and significant hurdles to overcome in unlocking its full potential.
At Building Bridges 2024 (see box), approaches to harnessing AI to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were the focus of a discussion co-hosted by EFG and Deloitte and featuring a five-member panel of experts from different fields:
- Marc Beierschoder, Partner at Deloitte
- Melanie Beyeler, Lead Manager of the Climate Transition Strategy at EFG Asset Management
- Kseniia Fontaine, Senior Business Development and Operations Officer at the International Telecommunication Union
- Yana Gevorgyan, Director of the GEO Secretariat
- Louis Schwab, CEO and Co-Founder of Naera
The host of the panel, Emma Benameur – Head of Programming at the Villars Institute – led the discussion and focused on three key questions: How can AI be used in a constructive way? What barriers and risks are there? And what action would we take in a world where funding and resources were not an issue?
One thing was clear from the start of the discussion: There is no shortage of use cases for AI, and it is already employed in areas like the real estate sector, energy management and water technologies. It can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advance sophisticated geospatial mapping and improve access to healthcare, amongst a range of other examples. From a business and investor perspective, it can support companies in integrating sustainability into their operations and transitioning to climate-friendlier models.
Rolling out AI for sustainable development and tackling the challenges
In any context, AI’s major strength lies in its ability to work with huge amounts of input in an efficient and versatile manner. But there are numerous challenges: Some AI-driven projects suffer from a lack of data, either because those data are unavailable or because they are not shared. Progress in developing tools and resources is concentrated in world regions that have the capacity to invest in them, making truly global collaboration more complex. And for all its potential in driving sustainability efforts, AI itself currently still consumes a lot of energy.
Nevertheless, AI is already supporting sustainable investment, sustainable business practices and sustainable development in general. So what are the next steps – and what would we do if, in the words of Emma Benameur, we could wave a magic wand and approach the technology with all the resources we’ll ever need?
While the panellists’ areas of focus and expertise differed, a consensus on one key point quickly emerged: Driving forward AI has to be a collaborative effort, perhaps even more so than action in other SDG-relevant areas. AI needs data from myriad sources to fulfil its promise, and putting the data to use requires cooperation between actors with diverse skillsets, backgrounds and goals. Perhaps most of all, however, AI depends on the human ambition to do the right thing.