Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the promise of fostering both sustainability and the public interest. It is, for instance, used to monitor biodiversity, assist in cleaning marine environments of waste and help counter disinformation. At the same time, AI entails challenges ranging from the high resource consumption of popular generative AI systems to deficits in the transparency and accountability of automated decisions. This raises an essential question: How socially beneficial are AI systems in concrete applications, and how can their broader societal value - or harm - be measured with precision?

To address these questions, the transdisciplinary research project Impact AI analyzes a total of 15 projects that aim to contribute to sustainability and the public interest through their AI applications. To assess these initiatives, the project develops an Impact Assessment that systematically evaluates the actual contribution of these AI projects to sustainability and the public interest. Over the course of the project, the evaluation tool will be made publicly accessible, enabling both trained experts and organizations to make direct use of it. In doing so, the project supports the reflective and sustainable deployment of AI systems and provides an evidence base for informed decisions about their use.

Dr. Steffen Lange is part of the Impact AI Project Council. It was established to integrate various scientific and practice-oriented expertise into the research project's work. The aim is to iteratively improve the developed Impact Assessment and reflect on and discuss the results and interpretations of the 15 case studies.

The council comprises 11 leading experts from various disciplines and fields of experience. They will accompany the research project over a period of 5 years.