AS the world shifts its focus towards sustainability and ethical business practices, it is essential for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to ethical Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices—and fast.
To assist companies with this process, AI is coming to the rescue, with many businesses already having implemented CSR-focused AI initiatives including for energy efficiency, ethical labour practices, and diversity.
We explore some of the innovative ways AI can be leveraged for CSR with technology expert, Mukesh Choudhary, from Finoit, and explore success stories of companies that have employed these models.
As AI continues to advance at record speed, so do the possibilities for using AI to create a more sustainable and equitable future.
- Energy Reduction
AI can facilitate comprehensive environmental impact assessments, enabling companies to make informed decisions that minimise their ecological footprint. It can determine the amount of non-recyclable waste, ways energy consumption can be reduced, and the carbon footprint that might be going unnoticed.
Google is using AI to reduce energy consumption. They have optimised cooling systems, resulting in a 40% reduction in energy used for cooling and a 15% reduction in overall energy overhead.
- Environmental Conservation
AI can monitor environmental conditions, detect deforestation, and track wildlife populations.
Companies like Microsoft have partnered with conservation organisations to use AI in tracking endangered species, monitoring wildlife populations, and analysing environmental data.
- Enhancing Accessibility
AI technologies can help provide accessibility services to help with actions like seeing, hearing, and walking.
Microsoft’s AI for Accessibility initiative is a $25 million grant program that rewards developers, startups, universities, and non-profits for building AI solutions for people with disabilities. One solution is the Seeing AI app, which narrates the visual world for blind users.
- Ethical Supply Chain Management
Companies can employ AI to optimise their supply chain processes, thereby reducing waste, minimising environmental impact, and ensuring ethical sourcing practices.
For example, Nike has utilised AI and machine learning to improve its demand forecasting. This has reduced overproduction and waste, ultimately contributing to its sustainability goals.
Furthermore, Unilever is using AI to monitor supplier compliance with ethical standards.
- Ethical Labor Practices
AI-powered tools can monitor labour conditions within the supply chain, ensuring compliance with ethical labour standards. They can analyse employee data to identify potential issues such as burnout or overload anxiety.
Walmart has implemented AI-driven HR systems to enhance employee well-being.
- Diversity and Inclusion
AI can mitigate bias in hiring processes and promote equitable opportunities within the workforce.
Unilever has employed AI in its recruitment processes to eliminate gender bias, leading to a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
- Disaster Response and Relief
AI-based real-time disaster analysis allows for more efficient resource allocation and quicker response times, ultimately saving lives and reducing the impact of disasters.
The IBM Watson AI system has been used to analyse social media and other data sources during natural disasters to provide real-time information to first responders.
In addition to these, there are countless possible uses of AI to advance CSR efforts and companies have a lot of space to come up with creative AI solutions designed to meet their needs.
A range of AI services is already integrated into countless big companies, and these pioneers are setting standards for an efficient future for CSR.
Mukesh says, “Companies can implement a system, or a combination of systems, already available in the market if they don’t have enough resources to build a customised system. There are many options available.”
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