· Sustainability

31. The development of sustainable societies relies on the achievement of a complex set of objectives on a continuum of human, social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions. The advent of AI technologies can either benefit sustainability objectives or hinder their realization, depending on how they are applied across countries with varying levels of development. The continuous assessment of the human, social, cultural, economic and environmental impact of AI technologies should therefore be carried out with full cognizance of the implications of AI technologies for sustainability as a set of constantly evolving goals across a range of dimensions, such as currently identified in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Principle: The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Nov 24, 2021

Published by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Related Principles

Human, social and environmental wellbeing

Throughout their lifecycle, AI systems should benefit individuals, society and the environment. This principle aims to clearly indicate from the outset that AI systems should be used for beneficial outcomes for individuals, society and the environment. AI system objectives should be clearly identified and justified. AI systems that help address areas of global concern should be encouraged, like the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Ideally, AI systems should be used to benefit all human beings, including future generations. AI systems designed for legitimate internal business purposes, like increasing efficiency, can have broader impacts on individual, social and environmental wellbeing. Those impacts, both positive and negative, should be accounted for throughout the AI system's lifecycle, including impacts outside the organisation.

Published by Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Australian Government in AI Ethics Principles, Nov 7, 2019

· 1. The Principle of Beneficence: “Do Good”

AI systems should be designed and developed to improve individual and collective wellbeing. AI systems can do so by generating prosperity, value creation and wealth maximization and sustainability. At the same time, beneficent AI systems can contribute to wellbeing by seeking achievement of a fair, inclusive and peaceful society, by helping to increase citizen’s mental autonomy, with equal distribution of economic, social and political opportunity. AI systems can be a force for collective good when deployed towards objectives like: the protection of democratic process and rule of law; the provision of common goods and services at low cost and high quality; data literacy and representativeness; damage mitigation and trust optimization towards users; achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals or sustainability understood more broadly, according to the pillars of economic development, social equity, and environmental protection. In other words, AI can be a tool to bring more good into the world and or to help with the world’s greatest challenges.

Published by The European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence in Draft Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, Dec 18, 2018

(Preamble)

The global development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has reached a new stage, with features such as cross disciplinary integration, human machine coordination, open and collective intelligence, and etc., which are profoundly changing our daily lives and the future of humanity. In order to promote the healthy development of the new generation of AI, better balance between development and governance, ensure the safety, reliability and controllability of AI, support the economic, social, and environmental pillars of the UN sustainable development goals, and to jointly build a human community with a shared future, all stakeholders concerned with AI development should observe the following principles:

Published by National Governance Committee for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence, China in Governance Principles for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence--Developing Responsible Artificial Intelligence, Jun 17, 2019

· 1. THE MAIN PRIORITY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AI TECHNOLOGIES IS PROTECTING THE INTERESTS AND RIGHTS OF HUMAN BEINGS COLLECTIVELY AND AS INDIVIDUALS

1.1. Human centered and humanistic approach. In the development of AI technologies, the rights and freedoms of the individual should be given the greatest value. AI technologies developed by AI Actors should promote or not hinder the realization of humans’ capabilities to achieve harmony in social, economic and spiritual spheres, as well as in the highest self fulfillment of human beings. They should take into account key values such as the preservation and development of human cognitive abilities and creative potential; the preservation of moral, spiritual and cultural values; the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity and identity; and the preservation of traditions and the foundations of nations, peoples and ethnic and social groups. A human centered and humanistic approach is the basic ethical principle and central criterion for assessing the ethical behavior of AI Actors, which are listed in the section 2 of this Code. 1.2. Respect for human autonomy and freedom of will. AI Actors should take all necessary measures to preserve the autonomy and free will of a human‘s decision making ability, the right to choose, and, in general, the intellectual abilities of a human as an intrinsic value and a system forming factor of modern civilization. AI Actors should, during AIS creation, assess the possible negative consequences for the development of human cognitive abilities and prevent the development of AIS that purposefully cause such consequences. 1.3. Compliance with the law. AI Actors must know and comply with the provisions of the legislation of the Russian Federation in all areas of their activities and at all stages of the creation, development and use of AI technologies, including in matters of the legal responsibility of AI Actors. 1.4. Non discrimination. To ensure fairness and non discrimination, AI Actors should take measures to verify that the algorithms, datasets and processing methods for machine learning that are used to group and or classify data concerning individuals or groups do not intentionally discriminate. AI Actors are encouraged to create and apply methods and software solutions that identify and prevent discrimination based on race, nationality, gender, political views, religious beliefs, age, social and economic status, or information about private life. (At the same time, cannot be considered as discrimination rules, which are explicitly declared by an AI Actor for functioning or the application of AIS for the different groups of users, with such factors taken into account for segmentation) 1.5. Assessment of risks and humanitarian impact. AI Actors are encouraged to assess the potential risks of using an AIS, including the social consequences for individuals, society and the state, as well as the humanitarian impact of the AIS on human rights and freedoms at different stages, including during the formation and use of datasets. AI Actors should also carry out long term monitoring of the manifestations of such risks and take into account the complexity of the behavior of AIS during risk assessment, including the relationship and the interdependence of processes in the AIS’s life cycle. For critical applications of the AIS, in special cases, it is encouraged that a risk assessment be conducted through the involvement of a neutral third party or authorized official body when to do so would not harm the performance and information security of the AIS and would ensure the protection of the intellectual property and trade secrets of the developer.

Published by AI Alliance Russia in Artificial Intelligence Code of Ethics, Oct 26, 2021

· 1. THE KEY PRIORITY OF AI TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT IS PROTECTION OF THE INTERESTS AND RIGHTS OF HUMAN BEINGS AT LARGE AND EVERY PERSON IN PARTICULAR

1.1. Human centered and humanistic approach. Human rights and freedoms and the human as such must be treated as the greatest value in the process of AI technologies development. AI technologies developed by Actors should promote or not hinder the full realization of all human capabilities to achieve harmony in social, economic and spiritual spheres, as well as the highest self fulfillment of human beings. AI Actors should regard core values such as the preservation and development of human cognitive abilities and creative potential; the preservation of moral, spiritual and cultural values; the promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity and identity; and the preservation of traditions and the foundations of nations, peoples, ethnic and social groups. A human centered and humanistic approach is the basic ethical principle and central criterion for assessing the ethical behavior of AI Actors listed in Section 2 of this Code. 1.2. Recognition of autonomy and free will of human. AI Actors should take necessary measures to preserve the autonomy and free will of human in the process of decision making, their right to choose, as well as preserve human intellectual abilities in general as an intrinsic value and a system forming factor of modern civilization. AI Actors should forecast possible negative consequences for the development of human cognitive abilities at the earliest stages of AI systems creation and refrain from the development of AI systems that purposefully cause such consequences. 1.3. Compliance with the law. AI Actors must know and comply with the provisions of the national legislation in all areas of their activities and at all stages of creation, integration and use of AI technologies, i.a. in the sphere of legal responsibility of AI Actors. 1.4. Non discrimination. To ensure fairness and non discrimination, AI Actors should take measures to verify that the algorithms, datasets and processing methods for machine learning that are used to group and or classify data that concern individuals or groups do not entail intentional discrimination. AI Actors are encouraged to create and apply methods and software solutions that identify and prevent discrimination manifestations based on race, nationality, gender, political views, religious beliefs, age, social and economic status, or information about private life (at the same time, the rules of functioning or application of AI systems for different groups of users wherein such factors are taken into account for user segmentation, which are explicitly declared by an AI Actor, cannot be defined as discrimination). 1.5. Assessment of risks and humanitarian impact. AI Actors are encouraged to: • assess the potential risks of the use of an AI system, including social consequences for individuals, society and the state, as well as the humanitarian impact of an AI system on human rights and freedoms at different stages of its life cycle, i.a. during the formation and use of datasets; • monitor the manifestations of such risks in the long term; • take into account the complexity of AI systems’ actions, including interconnection and interdependence of processes in the AI systems’ life cycle, during risk assessment. In special cases concerning critical applications of an AI system it is encouraged that risk assessment be conducted with the involvement of a neutral third party or authorized official body given that it does not harm the performance and information security of the AI system and ensures the protection of the intellectual property and trade secrets of the developer.

Published by AI Alliance Russia in AI Ethics Code (revised version), Oct 21, 2022 (unconfirmed)