Making sure this works

Making sure this works properly

Making sure this works

How do business leaders map out a future for AI that builds a brighter future for everyone, and supercharges the SDGs to ensure vulnerable countries and communities aren’t left further behind?

In December 2023, the United Nations’ AI Advisory Body published its first report, Governing AI for humanity. This report argues that AI’s “extraordinary potential for good” in the realms of science, finance, clean energy, education and public health are counterbalanced by severe risks.

AI will affect all of humankind, the report argues, so we need a universal approach to deal with it. A key measure of our success with AI will be the extent to which the technology helps us achieve the SDGs.

We are starting to see promising AI use cases and demonstration projects that meet many of the SDG priority areas.

In healthcare (SDG3), for instance, AI is already being used to triage and interpret X-rays and scans to support better health and to accelerate breakthroughs in vaccine development. In education (SDG4), AI coaches are providing personalized learning paths for children in developing countries.

In the fight against climate change (SDG13), AI is helping us to predict extreme weather events, track ice sheets and measure pollution. In agriculture (SDG2), AI aids farmers to improve crop production, instruct machinery to carry out tasks autonomously and identify potential pest problems before they become infestations. These are just a handful of examples – we just need many, many more of them.

AI is here to stay, but we need to think carefully about the risks, as well as the rewards. Here at EY, our teams take a broad approach to AI through the  EY AIplatform.

Perhaps the greatest way to propel the SDGs forward is in AI literacy. Public awareness and education are among the most effective ways to prepare people for the future, but familiarity alone does not build trust and confidence with AI tools. In 2023 the EY Future Consumer Index  found that a significant proportion of consumers globally are worried about how AI may be applied, and around a quarter are concerned it may completely replace their jobs. People who use AI in their work are more worried about its impact than those who do not. Therefore, we need to give people the tools and resources to experiment with AI tools themselves, but to combine this with regulations and standards that are robust enough to protect society while flexible enough to encourage innovation for the benefit of society.

Democratisation of AI – and by that I mean making AI accessible, understandable and usable for a broad cohort of people across geographies, not just experts in a few tech hubs – could be the turbocharge the SDGs need. AI technologies are becoming ubiquitous and sophisticated, projects are being deployed at speed and scale, funding is ramping up and the talent pool growing. Cloud computing and mobile devices are giving millions more people access to affordable, advancing technology. Our challenge is to ensure we use AI to reduce inequalities, not reproduce them.