Artificial Intelligence Can Build a Better World (🌳If We Make It)
Artificial Intelligence Can Build a Better World (🌳If We Make It)
♻️ A Guest Post by Alec Crawford 🏞️ A.I. for Good in bullet points.
Image source: Image by Alan Warburton / © BBC / Better Images of AI / Virtual Human / CC-BY 4.0
Welcome Back!
Alec Crawford is a leader with his Stay Sustainable Newsletter, blog and podcast. Sustainability connects intimately with technology, artificial intelligence, and ultimately, with all of us. Alec went to Harvard in Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and is a Partner in Owl Peak Management, LLC.
I had asked him to write about ESG and sustainability as it relates to the future of A.I. and ethical A.I. Check out his Newsletter and if you subscribe you get a free 30-day free trial. I can recommend Alec as a speaker on ESG at the intersection of A.I. and technology.
For the best reading experience click on the title to read on your browser, or go here. In this essay, Alec outlines many applications of what I would term A.I. for Good in easy to read bullet points.
Let’s dive right in.
By
There are two tracks for humanity and Artificial Intelligence in the future. In one, AI is a resource for humans, making them better at what they do and promoting a broad rise in productivity, the source of higher living standards around the globe.
In the other, darker track, AI replaces humans in their jobs, causes deep fractures in global society, and fosters significant geopolitical risks. This article will focus on the first track, highlighting how AI can help humanity and that “ethical use of AI” must be a global cornerstone principal for AI (and robotics) development for humanity to take the first track.
Image source.
Read more from Alec
Could Artificial Intelligence Save the Planet?
Why You Need to Understand ESG Investing Better
Is Your Company Green or Greenwashing? (Podcast, Listen)
AI for Sustainability
Sustainability is not just about addressing climate change. It encompasses efficient resource use and the growing movement towards a “circular economy.” Neither government, nor non-government, organizations alone can effect this change. Individuals like you and me will play a significant role along with companies. Additionally, the technological progress required to stabilize or even reverse some of the damage to the planet is significant. Using artificial intelligence to help with this will speed up the process and perhaps even help us invent technologies we have not even dreamt of today.
The sustainability solutions being explored involve a combination of technologies such as robotics, distributed energy resources, electric vehicles, the internet of things, unstructured data, and analysis tools. It's important to note that AI doesn't operate independently in these cases, but requires human collaboration. Additionally, AI requires significant computing power, leading to increased energy consumption, so we will need to balance costs and benefits. 1
While there are many possible paths for AI to help with sustainability, I will focus on four key examples.
Electrification of the Global Economy
Since 80% of energy in the US is currently from fossil fuels, most of the US’s reduction in GHG will come from more efficient use (reduction). And, not to be too US-centric, China has tons of AI patents coupled with the infrastructure to use them, and will contribute to 28% of GHG reduction per the Paris accord but planning for a decade later than the standard 2050 target to reach net zero. See China [Climate Action Tracker]
In order to reduce use of fossil fuels over time, the world must transition towards electrification. We are seeing this trend already in terms of:
Electric Vehicles: Adoption of electric and low-carbon vehicles for individuals, commercial fleets, and public transport.
Alternative Energy: Shift towards alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.
No- and Low-Carbon Heating and Cooling: Conversion of heating and cooling systems towards heat pumps and other systems that use electricity instead of fossil fuels in homes and commercial properties.
This energy transition will obviously take an enormous amount of money, as alternative energy sources remain costly, although they are starting to approach the all-in cost of conventional electricity generation. There are several areas where AI can help, both in design and operation, of the new, larger, and more complex energy grid. PWC estimates that use of AI can reduce GHG by approximately 4% while boosting global GDP by roughly the same amount by 2030.
Improving the Electric Grid: Helping design a more efficient and robust energy grid.
Energy Demand Forecast: Accurately predicting energy needs across each country down to individual locales by examining weather forecasts.
Energy Supply Forecast: In addition, forecasting energy supply from solar, wind, and other zero-GHG and low carbon alternatives
Managing the Grid: Real-time load balancing of different primary, secondary, and tertiary energy sources, including standard energy assets, but also grid-scale flow batteries, drawing from parked EVs, nuclear power, etc.
Innovation in Agriculture
Agriculture over the next few decades will need to transform not only due to climate change, but growth and changes in the global population. Innovation in agriculture is required given constant news of drought, floods, crop diseases, or failure of goods to get to market because of war. Nevertheless, AI is poised to help improve agriculture in many ways.
New Drought- and Disease-Resistant Hybrids: Advances in agricultural science and genetics could be enhanced by AI, ensuring better yields and increased food security.
Autonomous Planting, Fertilizing, and Harvesting: AI-powered autonomous machinery can perform essential tasks like planting seeds, applying fertilizers, and harvesting crops with precision and efficiency.
Crop Yield Prediction: AI algorithms can analyze various data inputs, including weather patterns, soil conditions, and historical data, to accurately predict crop yields and recommend crop and specific seed types.
Robotic Fruit and Vegetable Pickers: AI-driven robots equipped with advanced sensors and computer vision capabilities can efficiently and accurately harvest fruits and vegetables, reducing dependence on manual labor and improving harvesting efficiency.
Crop and Livestock Health Monitoring: AI-based systems can monitor crop and livestock health by analyzing sensor data and identifying signs of disease or distress. This enables early detection and intervention, minimizing losses and promoting healthier yields.
Vertical Farming: AI technology facilitates vertical farming, where crops are grown in vertically stacked layers, often indoors or in controlled environments. This approach optimizes space utilization, reduces water usage, allows for year-round crop production, and short farm-to-table supply chains.
Verification of GHG Reduction Efforts
AI can play a crucial role in the verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and sustainability efforts, ensuring transparency and accuracy in environmental reporting. Recent stories about fraud in the carbon markets have been both disappointing and eye-opening. Satellite or drone photos can be utilized to verify various aspects. In addition, AI can be used to search for fraud in carbon credits and elsewhere and verify GHG and other emissions-related filings.
Visual verification: In terms of the environment, satellite or drone photos can be utilized to verify various aspects such as tree planting, rainforest preservation, visible emissions, etc. way more efficiently than humans.
Real carbon credits: Another area where AI contributes to verification is in carbon credits. By leveraging AI and technologies like blockchain, transparency and traceability can be improved.
Monitoring emissions. By analyzing data from various sources, AI can monitor and verify carbon emissions at the local, corporate, and country level. This verification process ensures that emissions are accurately measured and reported, contributing to effective GHG reduction strategies.
Flagging fraud and greenwashing: Finally, AI can assist in detecting sustainability-related fraud and greenwashing at the corporate and country level. By analyzing financial, economic and climate filings, AI algorithms can identify inconsistencies or discrepancies that may indicate fraudulent activities.
Improving Human Accessibility and Inclusion
AI holds immense potential in fostering human accessibility and inclusion in the future, breaking down barriers and empowering individuals across various domains. For example, scientists are already experimenting with ways to “read thoughts”, and combined with robotics or prosthetics, imagine the possibilities for paralyzed or otherwise impaired people.
Inclusive Communication: AI-powered natural language processing and machine learning algorithms can enhance communication by providing real-time translation services, transcription capabilities, and voice recognition for people with different languages, speech impairments, or hearing difficulties.
Assistive Technologies: People with disabilities are already using natural language AI such as Siri and Alexa to help them day-to-day. AI can also enable the development of innovative assistive technologies, such as smart prosthetics, wearable devices, enhancing mobility and independence for individuals with physical disabilities.
Personalized Learning: AI algorithms can personalize educational content and adapt teaching methods to cater to the diverse needs and learning styles of students, including those with cognitive or learning disabilities, ensuring inclusive and accessible education for all.
Level Playing Field: While videoconferencing shows your video, in the future, avatars may be used that show an idealized form, and possibly change your voice. This could reduce discrimination based on race, language, appearance, etc.
Improving Healthcare Globally
On the TV show “60 Minutes,” Andy Rooney used to opine that there were not enough doctors until everyone could get the same level of care as the President of the United States. While that may not be a practical goal using only humans, it is plausible for that goal to be reachable in our lifetime using artificial intelligence.
Proactive Healthcare: We live at a time when the benefits from improved healthcare will be felt most with proactive instead of only reactive care. Dr. Peter Attia in his recent book, Outlive, called this Medicine 3.0. [22] He uses the example of treating patients with pre-diabetes, not just those with diabetes itself. His stated goal is to increase “healthspan”, not just lifespan. AI algorithms can leverage predictive analytics to forecast disease progression, identify high-risk patients, and initiate proactive interventions across many different conditions. By continuously monitoring and analyzing patient data, AI can detect subtle changes in health indicators, enabling early intervention and preventing acute exacerbations or complications.
Personalized Medicine: AI technologies can enable the development of personalized treatment plans based on an individual's unique genetic makeup, medical history, lifestyle factors, and even real-time data from wearable devices. Some people may not want to know if they have a propensity for certain diseases from their genetic makeup, but knowledge is power and enables early intervention for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. By integrating and analyzing these diverse data sources, AI algorithms can provide tailored recommendations for medications, therapies, and lifestyle modifications, leading to more effective and targeted treatments.
Administrative Efficiency: Think of the incredible amount of time wasted in healthcare today. All of us see the endless forms and arcane procedure codes needed to file insurance claims. AI technologies can streamline administrative processes in healthcare, reducing paperwork and enabling healthcare providers to focus more on patient care. Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms can automate tasks like medical coding, billing, and transcription, freeing up time for healthcare professionals to spend on direct patient interaction. Additionally, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can handle routine inquiries, appointment scheduling, and basic triage, improving patient experience and freeing up care providers to focus on more urgent needs.
Improved Detection and Diagnosis: AI can significantly improve healthcare by leveraging advanced algorithms to detect and diagnose diseases at an early stage. AI visual algorithms are already better than humans at certain items, like identifying if a picture of a “mole” is actually skin cancer. Machine learning models like this can analyze vast amounts of medical data (or pictures of moles!), including patient records, imaging scans, and genetic information, to identify patterns and indicators that may not be easily noticeable to human clinicians. Early detection allows for timely intervention and improves patient outcomes.
Precision Surgery: AI-assisted robotic surgery is an emerging field that holds great promise in improving surgical precision and outcomes. Surgeons can use robotic systems equipped with AI algorithms to perform complex procedures with enhanced precision, reduced invasiveness, and improved post-operative recovery times. AI can assist in real-time image analysis, providing surgeons with augmented information and guidance during procedures, thereby reducing the risk of complications.
Conclusions
It is clear that if used for the right purposes, “AI for good” can be a powerful, positive influence on humanity. As I mentioned earlier, this is not just artificial intelligence on its own.
Other pieces of new and existing technology will be critical for the above. Relatively recent inventions include the internet of things, autonomous robots, drones and vehicles, use of unstructured data, satellite mapping, etc., as well as more mundane items!
Furthermore, I do not think it is prudent to let technologists (or governments, see above) just do whatever they want with AI. It will be important to keep banging the drum for ethical AI, and to make sure the watchdogs have teeth.
Editor’s Notes
You can visit Alec’s LinkedIn here. Check out his Podcast. Visit the Stay Newsletter Archives. A.I. Supremacy actively works with experts to bring you more angles and points of view. If you want to Sponsor a free post and think we have alignment, go here. I only do occasional minimalistic native Ads that are non-intrusive and valuable to the reader.
Thanks for reading!
Herweijer, Celine; Combes, Benjamin; and Gilham, Jonathan. How AI Can Enable a Sustainable Future. Price Waterhouse Coopers. Downloaded from the web 12/13/22: https://www.pwc.co.uk/sustainability-climate-change/assets/pdf/how-ai-can-enable-a-sustainable-future.pdf
Attia, Peter, MD, Gifford, Bill et al. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. Harmony Books, New York, NY 2023.
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Well done. It's high time we start talking about how AI can help us solve the Truly Big problems we face. There are insurmountable challenges ahead -- insurmountable for humans acting alone, anyway.