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Artificial Intelligence is no toy

How often do you ask ChatGPT a quick question? And your colleagues? Ten questions a day? That will be half a litre bottle of wasted drinking water, please. With AI instantly accessible to everyone, it is being used in the workplace and beyond for the slightest thing. People play around with it, while AI has a major downside: huge environmental impact as well as the risk of ethically irresponsible choices.

No wonder AI governance was in the spotlight last week at IAPP’s international AI Governance conference in Brussels. A spotlight that is much needed. It is time to raise more awareness about what impact playing around with AI will have on society. Because although modern technology offers many benefits, it is anything but free.

No child's play 

The AI train is blasting through society at high speed. No respectable company wants to miss that train. AI is the future and the possibilities are many. Artificial intelligence can be integrated into logistic planning to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, for example. Or used for strategic workforce planning or to improve working conditions. In addition to all the more accessible applications via ChatGPT or image generator DALL-E or MidJourney, of course.  

Meanwhile, it is quick and easy to jump on the wrong wagon as well. Tragic examples of irresponsible AI use abound. For example, the recent practices of public agencies with people from migration backgrounds made it painfully clear how careless use of data in AI technology can have far-reaching ethical consequences. The fact that the process of building AI models involves choices that justify a debate, was forgotten. Less well known is the negative impact of artificial intelligence on the environment. Generating an image for your presentation is equivalent to fully charging your phone in terms of energy consumption. And asking ChatGPT twenty questions equals the consumption of one whole litre bottle of - increasingly scarce - drinking water. This environmental impact will only increase as AI becomes more complex and widespread. 

Obligatory transparency 

The downside of AI alone should be enough motivation to use it responsibly. But legislation is on the way to mandate it as well. The AI Act, for example, will be classifying AI algorithms into risk categories. Something that many organizations should have taken care of already from a GDPR perspective. And sustainability legislation such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) zones in on the amount of energy consumed with artificial intelligence. The common denominator in these laws? The obligation to be transparent about how AI is deployed.   

This obligation is necessary as transparency with regards to AI is exactly what most organizations lack. An unprecedented number of companies work with artificial intelligence while completely unaware of what models are running or what goal they serve. This needs to change. Apart from complying with legislation, it is simply the moral duty of companies and agencies to use AI responsibly. Transparency towards clients, stakeholders and employees is crucial. It should go without saying when dealing with a tool as powerful as AI.

Step one: awareness

Generating awareness is the single most important step for responsible use of AI. In what way is your organization deploying artificial intelligence for strategic and sustainability goals? And what is the impact of said deployment, both positive and negative? You have to gain insight into where you stand in terms of responsible AI before you implement it. Responsible use of AI requires a waterproof approach where control, insight and transparency are paramount. Get to work on strategy and policy, describing how artificial intelligence supports your organizational goals and the values and frameworks governing its application. Every employee in each department needs to know what opportunities and pitfalls AI brings. Only then can one balance the AI scale and reap as many benefits as possible.   

AI is no child's play. Of course, it has unprecedented potential. Most of which we have yet to discover. But that is no reason to deploy it indiscriminately. We must use AI self-consciously and thoughtfully. After all, we don't leave the water tap open for fun either, do we?

The downside of AI alone should be enough motivation to use it responsibly. But legislation is on the way to mandate it as well. The AI Act, for example, will be classifying AI algorithms into risk categories.

Maaike Maranus van de Vrande

Director Sustainability

Maaike Maranus – van de Vrande appointed Conclusion’s new Sustainability Director

AI is no child's play. Of course, it has unprecedented potential. Most of which we have yet to discover. But that is no reason to deploy it indiscriminately.

Adil Bohoudi

Head of Responsible AI Conclusion Intelligence

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