The impact of AI on ethical living and stakeholder responsibility is a complex yet vital topic. As AI increasingly permeates our daily lives, it reshapes our interactions and societal structures. In this article, we looked into the multifaceted impacts of AI on stakeholder engagement based on a recent paper published by Somesh Sharma, IHS Specialist in Environment and Sustainable Development Planning and Researcher in Governance of AI for Safe, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities.
Stakeholder responsibility
When asked about the ethical issues surrounding AI, Somesh Sharma shared that, in his view, AI directly affects the fundamentals of ethical living, which is the “behavior of humans towards each other.” Ethics is the knowledge to judge what is right or wrong, good or bad. "The origin of ethics lies in the necessity for humans to collaborate; our ethics are rooted in our innate need for mutual support."
While AI, especially when combined with robotics, can surpass human abilities in fulfilling human needs, the widespread adoption of such AI risks weakening interpersonal bonding by reducing the reliance on human interaction. The reduced importance and diminishing role of humans are leading to conflicts between individual desires and ethical standards. "Consider instances where AI replaces humans, like driverless cars or AI that outperforms humans in the workplace, leading to depression or stress." Errors in AI, especially in fields like banking, can have serious consequences.
According to Somesh, we should ask ourselves questions like do creators consider the impact on human importance when designing AI? Are regulations sufficient to prevent AI from diminishing human reliance and preventing any harmful consequences? Before adopting AI, do we weigh its potential to influence our behavior and interpersonal relationships?
"I would like to stress on my viewpoint that the responsibility of all stakeholders is that at any level (societal, organizational or in personal life) adoption and use of AI must not result into reducing reliance on the role of humans.
Development of smart cities
"Reflecting upon the recent trends in the development of smart cities, I would explain a smart city as a socio-technical imaginary in which everything is desired to be digitally connected, making it a “large-scale Internet of Things (IoT).” Mechanisms of public service delivery are increasingly relying upon digitalization and AI. People will frequently interact with AI in their daily lives in one way or another (personal devices or public services). AI and robotics indeed offer solutions beyond human capabilities that can be extremely beneficial for quality life in cities, for example, aiding in disaster relief, or performing difficult routine tasks such as cleaning and maintenance of sewers in the cities. However, the benefit of AI depends upon how trustworthy the technology is and how ethically it is used. Otherwise, the risk is that the adoption of AI in smart cities can disrupt people's systems and social lives. The challenge and the opportunity is to educate all actors and stakeholders about the benefits and concerns of AI.
“It is not only about creating AI, but it is about preparing our societies and communities for responsibly adopting AI.”
AI and climate change
Artificial Intelligence can be implemented in several ways to support climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. Somesh shared that for example, AI-powered predictive models can analyze vast amounts of data to forecast climate patterns, enabling more accurate and timely predictions of extreme weather events and their potential impacts on urban areas. Additionally, AI can optimize energy consumption in cities by dynamically adjusting energy usage based on real-time data, leading to more efficient energy management and reduced carbon emissions. Some AI-driven technologies such as smart grids and intelligent transportation systems can facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources and promote sustainable transportation options, contributing to overall resilience and sustainability in urban environments.
Future research directions
Somesh comes from the social sciences discipline, but while researching for this article, he felt the need to understand associations between AI and humans from "origin to impacts of AI".
"I realized that AI in our daily lives is like humans interacting with non-humans, while the purpose and feeling of interaction could be the same as that of interaction between humans.”
Therefore, for his understanding, he created a taxonomy of four academic disciplines that could take him to the roots of AI. These disciplines are:
- Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience - to understand the origin of AI
- Computer Science - to understand the development of AI
- Engineering and Technology - to understand the deployment of AI
- Social Sciences - to understand the impacts of AI and Governance of AI
Within these four thematic verticals, there are numerous dimensions for exciting scholarly research on AI. Some of the suggestions that Somesh shared within the realm of social sciences, include: "AI and society", in particular social norms and the adoption of AI, social anxiety and AI adoption, safety concerns of AI. For him the most interesting is “forecasting scenarios for socio-technical societies of future” where anthropomorphic machines may claim to have a social identity.
More about the author
Somesh is a member of the Urban Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience Department at IHS, where he teaches, researches, advises, and designs tailor-made training programmes. His main thematic areas of focus are public finance, inclusive smart cities, nature-based solutions for sustainable development planning, and sustainable urban transport.
