AI Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement

Illustration by [Johnny Lighthands](https://www.johnnylighthands.co.uk))

Chapter Outline

• Stakeholder Engagement Process
• Stakeholder Impact Assessment

Chapter Summary

In this chapter we look at the importance of stakeholders in sustainability through what is known as the stakeholder engagement processes (SEP) as well as the stakeholder impact assessment (SIA). The former is a three-staged process with the following core steps: (i) stakeholder analysis and salience, (ii) positionality reflection, and (iii) stakeholder engagement objective and method selection.

The latter goes beyond the SEP and is designed to ensure a project can not only remain sustainable, but also support the sustainability of impacted communities throughout time. Beyond development and initial deployment, an AI system requires continuous monitoring to ensure that the long-term transformative effects and impacts of the project are not only well-understood, but accepted and beneficial for impacted individuals and communities.

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will:

• Familiarise yourself with the concept of sustainability in the context of AI and the importance of anticipatory reflection.
• Learn about the AI project lifecycle and how it can be a useful tool for AI sustainability.
• Understand the importance of an appropriate engagement with stakeholders, as well as how to conduct a stakeholder engagement process (SEP).
• Familiarise yourself with impact assessments, in particular a stakeholder impact assessment (SIA) as well as its main components.