DKN Arbeitsgruppe mit dem Titel „Sustainable AI (Artificial Intelligence)“.

01.10.2022 bis 30.04.2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are one of the most discussed technological developments of recent times. As a technology spanning many different fields of application, AI-based modelling, infer-encing, and decision-making will have a major impact across all socio-ecological domains. At the same time, they come with a variety of ethical issues that are discussed from various angles and have led to a mixture of different operationalization and regulation efforts. The discussion on sustainability with regard to AI technologies, however, is still somewhat neglected.
Here, two perspectives are to consider: On the one hand, how AI technologies can be utilized to ad-vance the transformation towards Sustainable Development. On the other, to what extent the tech-nologies themselves are – and can be made – sustainable. The primary goal of this interdisciplinary Working Group (WG) is to assess different criteria for the operationalization of this second aspect – the sustainability of AI technologies. In doing so, the WG will put a special emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a comprehensive reflection on what needs to be considered when aim-ing at more sustainable societies. Ultimately, the WG will examine the possibility of using the SDGs as a workable set of criteria for the operationalization of sustainable AI.
This will result in a policy paper that aims at impacting national and European sustainability and AI policies at the same time. The work done here will serve as a basis for establishing a Sustainable AI network and for further research initiatives on the operationalization and regulation of Sustainable AI.