Sustainable AI: Exploring Gains and Losses of AI in Daily Routines

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part of many people's daily routines and provides support in various areas of life, making their lives more comfortable and manageable. However, a question at hand is, whether the effects of AI on individuals and society are purely positive, and whether the perceived gains will remain a profit in the long-run. Our research reflects on the impacts of AI from a sustainability perspective, considering the psychological human needs (e.g., competence, autonomy, relatedness) that are fulfilled or violated through AI and how these effects might unfold over time. As an empirical basis, we present findings from 32 individuals' documentations of their AI usage behavior, and perceived gains and losses over a ten-day period. The qualitative data analysis resulted in 19 categories of gains, and 17 categories of losses. Based on this snapshot of AI in daily routines, we discuss the effects of AI in relations to psychological needs fulfilment as well as societal effects. We relate our findings to previous research in HCI and psychological concepts (e.g., overtrust, boost technologies, psychological biases), and sketch next steps of research.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sustainable AI, Gains, Losses, Psychological Needs, Societal Issues.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008032