Artificial intelligence for environmental security: national, international, human and ecological perspectives

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20/01/2023

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Artificial intelligence for environmental security: national, international, human and ecological perspectives

Summary

Scientists and decision-makers recognise artificial intelligence (AI) as a potential tool to solve sustainability issues. However, AI solutions can be leveraged for different ends and through different means. This paper presupposes that this process is contingent upon overarching environmental security discourses. It reviews how the use of AI as presented in the literature fits into national, international, human and ecological security perspectives. The research suggests that the securitisation of climate change can impact the use of AI, and what risks and opportunities would either be emphasised or downplayed.

Key messages

Environmental security perspectives can shape our understanding of artificial intelligence.
These perspectives impact the aims, uses, actors involved, risks and opportunities.
Focus includes climate conflicts, international society, 2030 Agenda and knowledge.
Greater focus on this interplay is suggested.

Conclusion

The national climate security discourse emphasises military uses and AI’s role in misinformation and climate denialism. The international security discourse suggests that international organisations can use AI to conduct their mission and secure their position among international actors. Transnational companies can also benefit from AI, with potential negative outcomes on the environment. AI can additionally grant transnational companies and states tools to hinder environmental movements. A human security discourse emphasises the role of AI in reaching the SDGs but may ignore potential power imbalances. Finally, ecological climate security underscores the role of algorithms in shaping our vision of the environment, and how it potentially estranges us from other worldviews and the environmental impact of AI.

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Citation

Marie Francisco, Linköping University. Artificial intelligence for environmental security: national, international, human and ecological perspectives,
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Volume 61, 2023, 101250, ISSN 1877-3435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101250.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343522001026)

Authors of this publication

Marie Francisco ,