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Dear Colleagues
We invite you to submit your work to the Artificial Intelligence
for Sustainability mini-track at AMCIS 2019. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Mini-Track Title: Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability
Track: Green IS and Sustainability (SIGGreen)
Two topics dominating the public discourse these days are
artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability. AI is expected to
drive a significant shift in the way business is conducted and
these technologies are already becoming part of firms' operations.
Between 2011 and 2016, mentions of AI in 10K filings of S&P
500 companies increased eightfold (Riffle, 2017). Clearly, exiting
opportunities exist for AI applications, not just for companies
but also for society at large. As Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot
remarked: "It's going to be interesting to see how society deals
with artificial intelligence, but it will definitely be cool"
(Marr, July 25, 2017).
While there is excitement an optimism around AI, there is an equal
amount of trepidation and pessimism around the pace of climate
change and environmental sustainability. In October 2018, the
latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) revealed that irreversible damage has already been
done to the planet and that "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented
changes in all aspects of society" are needed to avoid disastrous
effects of climate change (Miller and Croft, 2018). In light of
such a critical challenge, it is incumbent on the information
systems (IS) community to use the best and most promising
technologies, such as AI, to help change the current trajectory.
As previous authors have noted, sustainability is a wicked problem
(Murphy 2012). The challenge of sustainability is
multi-dimensional, involves multiple natural and human systems
engaged in complex interactions, and requires trade-offs between
conflicting values of decision-makers and stakeholders (Hovorka
and Corbett 2012). This complexity makes AI a natural fit for
addressing sustainability challenges. AI is machine intelligence,
or machines that can think, reason, make decisions, and even act
like a human (Russell et al. 2003). A variety of different AI
tools and techniques exist, such as neural networks, genetic
algorithms, heuristics, natural language processing and robots, as
well as closely related concepts such as cognitive computing.
Machine-based intelligence can help firms and society tackle
complex issues often observed in sustainability by transcending
the limitations of conventional computing and human intelligence.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF 2018) area
s where AI can address environmental problems may include
autonomous vehicles, distributed energy grids, smart agriculture,
weather forecasting and climate modelling, just to name a few.
Despite, the potential for AI in the context of sustainability,
research is in a nascent stage (Riffle 2017). Therefore, this
minitrack seeks to encourage research in this area and invites
research investigating the role AI can play in addressing
environmental concerns. The minitrack welcomes conceptual,
empirical (qualitative and quantitative), as well as analytical
approaches. This minitrack is open to studies that adopt different
perspectives such as design science, economic, psychological, and
sociological to investigate the consequences of AI for both
private (enterprises) and public (governmental) organizations'
sustainability initiatives. The minitrack also welcomes research
on related topics, such as the role of cognitive computing in
addressing the challenges associated with environmental
sustainability.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
* Adoption of AI by organizations and individuals to address
sustainability concerns
* Assimilation of AI for sustainability in firms and industries
* Theories integrating AI with payoffs for sustainability
* Public policy considerations related to AI with implications for
sustainability
* Development of sustainable products and services using AI
* Factors affecting the success and failure of AI applications for
sustainability
* Responsible innovation processes associated with AI for
sustainability
* Conceptual models examining AI for sustainability
* Analytical studies investigating AI for sustainability
* Applications of AI for sustainability in different sectors, such
as energy, transportation, agriculture, smart cities, and others
* Threats and risk associated with use of AI to address
sustainability concerns
References:
Horvoka, D. and Corbett, J. (2012) IS Sustainability Research: A
trans-disciplinary framework for a 'grand challenge", Thirty-third
International Conference on Information Systems, Orlando, FL.
Marr, B. (2017). 28 best quotes about artificial intelligence,
available online at
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/07/25/28-best-quotes-about-artificial-intelligence/#10ee9f004a6f.
Miller, B. and Croft, J. (2018). Planet has only until 2030 to
stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn, available online
at
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/07/world/climate-change-new-ipcc-report-wxc/index.html
Murphy, R. (2012). Sustainability: A wicked problem. Sociologica,
6(2), 1-24.
Riffle, C. (2017). What artificial intelligence means for
sustainability, available online at
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/what-artificial-intelligence-means-sustainability.
Russell, S. J., Norvig, P., Canny, J. F., Malik, J. M., &
Edwards, D. D. (2003). Artificial intelligence: a modern approach
(Vol. 2): Prentice hall Upper Saddle River.
WEF (2018). Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for the Earth,
World Economic Forum, available online at
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/Harnessing_Artificial_Intelligence_for_the_Earth_report_2018.pdf
Timeline
January 7, 2019 Manuscript submissions for AMCIS 2019 begin
March 1, 2019 AMCIS manuscript submissions closes for authors at
10:00am PST
Mini-track co-chairs
Rohit Nishant
(
Rohit.nishant@fsa.ulaval.ca<mailto:Rohit.nishant@fsa.ulaval.ca>)
Jacqueline Corbett
(
Jacqueline.Corbett@fsa.ulaval.ca<mailto:Jacqueline.Corbett@fsa.ulaval.ca>)
Michael Kennedy
(
michael.i.kennedy@wsu.edu<mailto:michael.i.kennedy@wsu.edu>)
Best Regards
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