Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, combined with related technologies, have been hailed as providing unprecedented opportunities for the solution of the most serious global problems in the 21st century. They are also expected to create new realities in the fields of business, corporate practices, governmental policy and law making. In this context, they were also mentioned as influencing the larger trends in global sustainability as mandated by the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the recent trend of a race in the development of AI has been accompanied by a parallel trend of the regulation of AI as ethical concerns related to AI also increased.
For instance, in April 2021, the European Union presented its legislative proposal for an EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) and in November 2021, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. The latter recognizes “the profound and dynamic positive and negative impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on societies, environment, ecosystems and human lives, including the human mind”.