ABSTRACT
In order to evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) impact, what counts as impact must be clarified, and so must the method of analysis. This chapter presents the analytical approach and framework that will be used throughout the rest of this book. The analytical approach is built on and further develops the author’s previous work on the subject, and while these earlier contributions in article format have stopped short of demonstrating the potential of the framework in action, this book provides an opportunity to do just that. First, the linkage between AI ethics and the project undertaken in this book is presented. Second, the analytical approach that allows for comprehensive and systemic analysis of AI and the Sustainable Development Goals is established. This includes establishing the layered approach to impacts on the micro, meso, and macro levels, the separation of direct and indirect effects, and the acknowledgment that the various impacts cannot simply be counted, but that their consequences must be evaluated in terms of degree. Finally, a framework for presenting the results arrived at with such a method is presented.
