Abstract
Investigating the unprecedented and not yet fully known impact of artificial intelligence (AI) for business sustainability in digital ecosystem implicates acknowledging and reshaping the pivotal role played by the environmental social governance (ESG) framework used to assess efficiency, performance, and international strategies in terms of business practices. What is more, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by benefiting from guidance from ESG, as well as intelligence demonstrated by computers, may present both opportunities and risks, depending on the perspectives taken into consideration. Furthermore, building a culture of sustainability and developing successful sustainable business models have the amazing power of fostering climate justice, restoring damaged ecosystems, and developing action plans capable of offering immediate responses to climate change. Can individuals' quality of life and standards of living boost the overall well-being of societies when businesses are becoming more sustainable? Are the global living standards moving in the right direction?
TopIntroduction
Nowadays, more and more specialists at a global level are emphasizing the fact that intersecting Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for business sustainability plays a vital role in coping with the latest changes and challenges that the world currently confronts with. In this given context, it seems that ESG is being regarded as far more necessary and far more powerful than any other form of governance, since the accent is put on both the environment and the society – which are both in tremendous need of attention these days. In addition, the society in which all the activities take place and, also, which is responsible for the manner in which these activities are performed by individuals, is becoming more and more aware of the power provided by the use of AI.
Nevertheless, there is already common knowledge that the intensive use of AI may either help individuals, communities, and businesses, or it may as well enhance the problems already existing in today’s society by generating more and more controversies regarding sensible, yet highly problematic issues, such as, for example: (a) the fact that, by regularly using AI, there will be less and less needed to implicate individuals in routine tasks, since these tasks will be performed far better and much faster by robots, which will automatically lead to very high employment rates; (b) the fact that, by asking individuals to work together with AI for specific jobs – the purpose being, in essence, to determine individuals to “show” the robots what they have learned so far and what they are capable to accomplish so far with their own knowledge and strength, the AI programs will get the opportunity to become more and more powerful, will gain precious knowledge by performing different tasks and will, ultimately, become indispensable to the employers and users; (c) the fact that, there is a fine line these days between working ethically and making use responsibly of AI in all the jobs in which AI is currently being used in today’s society since creating the legal background and frameworks for the use of AI is only at the beginning; and (d) the fact that, although it is being more and more criticized by some categories of professionals and specialists, the use of AI will soon be inevitable in a lot of jobs, for the simple reason that it will implicate, on the medium and long term, less costs for the ones using AI, better performed tasks, faster performed activities, and less stress for business developers and owners that would normally arise when working with people.
Going further with the current analysis, today’s society has clearly become more avid and more capable to explore the synergies between ESG and AI for business sustainability, in this manner becoming closer and closer to approaching and to obtaining valuable goals for the preservation and the good health of the Planet, such as, for instance: tackling opportunities for climate adaptation, mitigating climate change efforts, and pursuing climate justice. In consequence, there should be a major concern these days for the well-being of individuals as well as for the health of the Planet, given the fact that, lately, there have been registered so many disasters as a result of humans not managing their lives, their jobs, and the areas, regions, or countries in which they live and work in a sustainable manner (Luque González et al., 2022a). Fortunately, there is an important accent put today on key aspects, such as: (a) the way in which living standards should be interpreted and how should these living standards highlight the reality of today’s society (Popescu & Luque González, 2022a); (b) the importance of happiness at a wide level, not only in the case of individuals, but, also, when referring to communities and the environment (Popescu & Luque González, 2022b); (c) the living costs which should be associated with responsible and sustainable ways of performing in the society; (d) the responsible and the sustainable use of computer-controlled robots, so that benefits arise not only for the employers but, also, for the communities and the society as a whole (Popescu & Luque González, 2022c); and (e) the power of creativity and the role of innovation for businesses and for raising quality, enhancing knowledge, yet with a particular accent on the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Global Economic Environment Preservation (Luque González et al., 2022b).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Governance and Development: Nowadays, specialists are getting more and more concerned with the idea of governance for development; in this given context, the authors introduce the powerful connection that undeniably exists between governance and development, in order to show that there are at least two sides surrounding this powerful relationship, namely: (a) first of all, governance represents the manner in which countries are managed, mainly, but not exclusively, in terms of their economic and social resources (Word Bank (WB), 1992); while (b) second of all, development may only be regarded as having positive implications in those cases in which the focus is on Sustainable Development (SD), responsibility, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, as well as accountability (Word Bank (WB), 1992; United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), 2023).
Sense and Counter-Sense in Sustainable Development (SD) and Evolution: There are so many challenges and temptations these days, which makes it sometimes impossible for some people to make the right choices when it comes to working for doing good or for making profit. Hence, the idea of being on the right track – namely, on the right sense of the development and the evolution, while compared with the idea of stepping on the other side, on the bad track – namely, on the counter-sense of the development and the evolution, arises most naturally as a provocation for individuals, resourceful business owners, prominent country leaders, and renowned governmental officials. There are several questions that come to mind in these particular cases, such as: Can humanity be on the right sense on its development and evolution, if the actions taken are solely focused on making profit? Or, is mankind on the counter-sense when choosing to sacrifice people’s well-being and the health of the environment when willing to work for making profit rather than for doing good? In this day and age, the idea of being on the right side in terms of development and evolution should no longer be a mystery for no one, since the answer may be found in the way in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are acknowledged and applied in the day to day lives of individuals and businesses. So far, too much damage has been done to our Planet and too many human lives have been affected by irresponsible and irrational behavior, which requires immediate action from the synergies derived from the relationship that exists between the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Collaboration for Good Governance and Development: In this day and age, everything that seems to surround people’s lives is aimed more and more at making them more individualistic and even, in some cases, more focused only on personal and private matters, hence growing to be more immune to the problems of less fortunate ones or the importance of the environment in which people live in; even though this is apparently the general trend, the authors’ intention is to make people aware that there are numerous advantages that may be encountered in collaboration, in building economic and social strong connections for a better, safer, and healthier future for all; for example, good governance implicates collaboration between the individuals living in a country and its management, based on the fact that achieving the goals of good governance implicate the fact that the local authorities should receive help and support from the communities (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), 2003); in the same line with the aforementioned aspects, another example could be represented by the fact that the well-being of individuals and the good health of the environment strongly depend on building more resilient, robust, and sustainable cities which can only be done with the constant involvement of the people and the authorities (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), 2023).
Climate Adaptation, Climate Change Efforts, and Climate Justice: There are important lessons to be learned regarding the way in which human behavior as well as leaders’ decisions affected our world, especially in the context in which it has become critical to focus on sustainable growth; in this given context, finding rapid solutions for climate adaptation no longer represent an option, but they have become a must in a society devoured by extreme poverty and imminent climate risks; hence, countries worldwide are called to unite their efforts in terms of ensuring that climate change will stop affecting the present and the future generations, while addressing climate justice in a healthier and more sustainable environment (International Development Association (IDA), 2023a); in this particular matter, the authors draw attention that it is high time to make serious efforts to boost shared prosperity, while building more capable, efficient, resilient, sustainable, inclusive, and accountable communities, businesses, Organizations, and institutions (International Development Association (IDA), 2023b).
Governance Global Practice: Nowadays, the World Bank (WB) researchers and specialists point out that there are three major problems that can be noticed at a global level, namely: (a) the pandemic has seriously weakened the society in which people live, especially due to the fact that everyone might be regarded as profoundly and irreversibly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the COVID-19 crisis; (b) the rebellions, the civil wars, and all forms of fights and of wars that are taking place or that recently took place in the society are coming to raise even further the gap between individuals and communities, increasing inequalities and discriminatory behavior as well as economic, social, and political problems; and (c) the climate change represents the result of irresponsible human actions and Organizations’ activities, which has come to generate, on a regular basis, disasters at a global level (World Bank (WB), 2023).
Outcomes From Intersecting Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Sustainability: Nowadays, two concepts seem to be used more and more due to their surprising results regarding the individuals’ mindfulness, people’s health, businesses’ sustainability, and environmental inclusiveness, resilience, and robustness; these two notions, namely Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have proven that they currently have the greatest potential to provide constrictive and positive outcomes to our society in terrible need for climate justice. In this matter, Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can develop – with the aid of researchers and with the help of specialists, valuable relationship and synergies, capable to lead to the following desired and expected actions: (a) firstly, the idea of Environmental Social Governance (ESG) encompasses other forms used so far, such as, for instance, Governance, Good Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance, since the accent is out on the environment and on the preservation of biodiversity, ecosystems, and nature as a whole; (b) secondly, the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has more connotations that it might offer at an initial glance, since the priority of the intelligence demonstrated by the computers would be how to restore the natural habitats and to enable the environment to become healthier and more robust; (c) thirdly, the combination between the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for business sustainability may only be considered of true value in those cases in which the ultimate reached results show an increase in the individuals’ well-being, the living standards optimization based on environmental regeneration and success stories, and businesses that are capable to produce advantages not only for the employers and the employees, but which are acting in the spirit of Good Governance, with care for people and the environment, dedication for the less fortunate individuals, and support for communities in need.
Ethiopian Data Quality Assessment Framework (EDQAF): These days, quality is becoming more and more important, especially when the results derived from the assessment of quality are showing the power of certain entities or countries to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, and performance at a general level (Central Statistics Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia, 2011c AU114: The in-text citation "Ethiopia, 2011c" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , p.7); what is more, the quality assessment process in Ethiopia comes to ensure that all the aspects surrounding the management of quality have been closely addressed and followed, based on standard assessment tools, assessment programs, as well as various other dimensions that accompany quality (Central Statistics Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia, 2011c AU115: The in-text citation "Ethiopia, 2011c" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , p.7). Besides all these, in the case of Ethiopia the EDQAF focuses on major issues, such as: (a) identifying the specific needs of Ethiopia, while taking advantage of the best international practices and tools capable to assess quality, in order to enhance the living standards of people; (b) identifying the quality assessment procedures that are capable, on the long run, to improve the standards of living in the case of Ethiopians, while creating concrete plans capable to support the people, the communities, and the individuals in need of immediate support and attention, hence fostering high quality standards and focusing on sustainable quality improvements; and (c) finding the best solutions to disseminate the results in order to gain visibility, to empower the quality assessment teams to continue their work, and to focus on the positive connections that arise from Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for business sustainability (Central Statistics Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia, 2018b AU116: The in-text citation "Ethiopia, 2018b" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , pp.6-9).