Study analyzes how tech companies advance sustainability through AI
A *team of international researchers has been studying the strategies communicated by Big Tech companies to leverage artificial intelligence to address various sustainability challenges. In this video, two of the authors of the study – Kristof COUSSEMENT from IÉSEG and Ellen WEBER, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hohenheim and visiting researcher at IÉSEG - talk about the framework they have developed to map and analyze these strategies.
06/26/2024
4 min
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While sustainability is a crucial focus for many tech companies, the specific strategies they adopt to leverage AI in accelerating sustainability and how these strategies are perceived by their clients remain largely unexplored. This research aims to fill this gap, shedding light on these important aspects.
Based on an extensive analysis of 69 sustainability reports and AI and sustainability documents from the websites of Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, and SAP, the team derived a final pool of 244 initiatives to study in depth.
Google, for example, developed the Know Your Data tool, which helps developers investigate social biases, such as gender biases, in datasets to reduce discrimination in AI systems. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s AI for Earth program aims to dedicate grants, data, and technology to projects and partners to find AI-enabled solutions for ecological problems.
A framework to map the positioning of Big Tech companies.
The data and information collected enabled the researchers to develop a framework to map the strategic positioning of these tech giants in terms of the way they leverage AI to advance sustainability, providing an understanding of the AI x sustainability strategy they appear to follow (see below).
Figure 1: source authors
“This framework contains two dimensions,” explains Ellen WEBER. “The first, focusing on the relation between AI and sustainability, incorporates both the AI initiatives they deploy to tackle sustainability problems (AI for sustainability), and the sustainability of the different AI initiatives themselves (sustainable AI).”
The second dimension of the framework distinguishes between ecological sustainability, focusing on, for example, protecting the environment, and social sustainability, which includes, for example, well-being and fairness for people.
Where do tech companies feature in this framework?
Based on this framework and its quadrants, various AI x Sustainability strategies emerge among the Big Tech companies (see the graph below).
“For instance, Google is positioned in the Sustainable AI x Social Sustainability quadrant because they strongly highlight making AI systems socially sustainable,” explains Kristof COUSSEMENT. “One example is their creation of the Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology Center. Meanwhile, our study places Microsoft in the AI for Sustainability x Ecological Sustainability quadrant, given that many of their initiatives fall under the AI for Earth program.”
Figure 2: source, authors
The researchers also studied how these Big Tech companies leverage internal (without partners) and/or external resources (with partners) in implementing their AI x Sustainability strategies. They found that some companies were more likely to collaborate with external partners (e.g., Microsoft) while others (e.g., Google) were more likely to handle things in-house.
“Based on our framework, we also devised a survey to ask potential clients of tech companies to give their perceptions on a company’s strategic positioning,” explains Kristof COUSSEMENT. They asked participants to imagine a tech company communicating its AI x Sustainability strategic positioning within each quadrant. We measured their attitude towards this positioning and the likelihood they would collaborate with a company in this quadrant in the future. Finally, they were asked to give their views on a tech company’s use of external/internal resources to realize AI x Sustainability initiatives.
While potential clients viewed all four quadrants favorably, the AI for sustainability x social sustainability positioning (Quadrant 3) was perceived as the most positive of all four strategies. Potential clients also highlighted a slight for tech companies that would realize AI x Sustainability initiatives by (partly) collaborating with external partners, particularly for AI for sustainability initiatives or initiatives focusing on ecological sustainability.
Takeaway messages for tech companies
“There are several takeaway messages for tech companies,” the two authors highlight.
First, managers can analyze and map their AI x Sustainability initiatives, compare them to their corporate strategies, and determine whether they are aligned or need shifts. Thus, the framework helps tech companies decide which initiatives to focus on and whether new initiatives need to be developed.
Second, based on the overview of nearly 250 AI x Sustainability initiatives from leading Big Tech companies, managers can identify existing initiatives and strategies that could be translated into their own tech businesses.
Moreover, tech companies can also gain insight into opportunities to cooperate with one of the selected Big Tech companies. “For example, a tech company could identify a promising initiative from a Big Tech company and contribute its industry-specific user knowledge and/or research capabilities to create new and innovative AI x Sustainability initiatives precisely adhering to the tech company’s corporate goals and business model,” adds Ellen WEBER.
Finally, their results show that while potential clients of tech companies seem to perceive all four AI x Sustainability strategies positively, slight preferences regarding the AI x social sustainability positioning and collaborative activities with external partners were identified. The study outlines implications of these preferences for corporate communication.
More information:
*The full paper is published in the Industrial Marketing Management journal: “How tech companies advance sustainability through artificial intelligence: Developing and evaluating an AI x Sustainability strategy framework” ‘2024) by Felix Zechiel, Ellen Weber, Marion Büttgen (University of Hohenheim, Institute of Marketing & Management), Marah Blaurock (University of Hohenheim, Institute of Marketing & Management, & Stuttgart Media University, Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence), & Kristof Coussement (IÉSEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 – LEM).
Credit for accompanying photo: : iStock.com/Petmal
