The Challenge Of Scaling AI For Social Good - The Innovator
At the end of September, representatives of the world gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Alongside the official events, many side meetings considered aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including information technology.
In concert with this, USAID produced a report which emphasized the role of AI in global development. The report noted that the global community is on track to meet just 17% of the SDGs by 2030, and progress has plateaued or regressed in many areas.
The Role of AI in Global Development
When used effectively and responsibly, AI holds the potential to accelerate progress on sustainable development and close digital divides. However, challenges in scaling AI for social-good initiatives are persistent and tough, as noted in a McKinsey report. The report highlighted that most efforts to deploy AI for social good have focused on research and innovation rather than adoption and scaling.
One of the barriers to scaling AI is the size of grants, with 55% of grants for AI research and deployment across the SDGs being $250,000 or smaller. This indicates a focus on targeted research or smaller-scale deployment, rather than large-scale expansion.
Challenges in Scaling AI for Social Good Initiatives
Aside from funding, the biggest barriers to scaling AI include data availability, accessibility, and quality; AI talent availability and accessibility; organizational receptiveness; and change management.
Two additional overlooked issues that add to the deployment difficulty in the Global South are the lack of Internet access for nearly three billion people and the skewed underlying data available on the Internet, which is predominantly from the global North and male-centric.
Ethical Considerations and Future Implications
Ethical considerations also play a significant role, as noted in a Brookings Institution report. The lack of robust data protection and AI policies in the Global South could lead to misuse as AI grows in reach.
Moreover, there are ethical dilemmas, such as whether deploying an AI triage agent in a country with limited medical resources would be beneficial or harmful. These ethical and practical issues require careful consideration in the deployment of AI for social good.
Future Perspectives and Call to Action
As investments in AI continue to grow, it is essential to ensure that the Global South is not left behind. Significant commitment from wealthy countries and companies is needed to bridge the gap and ensure that AI solutions benefit all regions equally.
While challenges and uncertainties exist, leveraging AI for social good has the potential to address pressing global issues and drive positive change. Collaboration and ethical governance are key to harnessing the full potential of AI for the betterment of society.
