Mapping Artificial Intelligence concerns to global sustainability: Insights from social media and expert solutions

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognized as both an enabler of and a risk to sustainable development. Yet research remains dominated by expert-driven assessments, with little attention to how the public perceives and discusses AI’s sustainability implications. This study examines concern-oriented public discourse about AI in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by analyzing social media posts and developing expert-derived solutions. We collected and analyzed over 700,000 posts from X (formerly Twitter) spanning three years (2022–2025), applying natural language processing techniques including Fine-tuned BERT, Zero-Shot Classification, and Pre-trained XLNet. The analysis reveals pronounced imbalances in public attention across the 17 SDGs, with 52.8 % of AI-related discussions concentrated on SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and 11.8 % on SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), while critical goals such as SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) receive minimal attention (1.0 % and 0.3 %, respectively). To address these gaps, we convened a focus group of nine experts from academia, industry, and policy sectors to develop actionable solutions for each SDG, including AI-driven financial inclusion tools, precision agriculture models, and energy-efficient “Green AI” technologies. Our findings suggest a notable misalignment between AI’s potential to address pressing humanitarian challenges and the patterns of concern-oriented public discourse captured in this study. These findings point to the need for broader public awareness, robust ethical governance, and interdisciplinary collaboration if AI is to advance sustainability goals equitably and reach underserved communities.