Artificial Intelligence for Environmental, Social, and Economic Sustainability: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology with significant potential to advance sustainable development across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This systematic review synthesizes existing research on the applications, opportunities, and challenges of AI in promoting sustainability. The review examines studies published across multiple disciplines, highlighting how AI-driven technologies contribute to environmental protection through climate change mitigation, energy optimization, waste management, biodiversity conservation, and smart resource utilization. In the social dimension, AI supports improvements in healthcare, education, public safety, social inclusion, and disaster response by enabling data-driven decision-making and enhancing service accessibility. Economically, AI fosters sustainable growth by increasing productivity, optimizing supply chains, encouraging innovation, and facilitating the transition toward circular and digital economies. Despite these promising contributions, the review also identifies several critical challenges associated with AI adoption, including algorithmic bias, data privacy concerns, cybersecurity risks, high energy consumption of AI models, unequal access to AI technologies, and ethical and regulatory issues. These limitations may hinder the achievement of sustainability goals if not addressed through responsible AI governance and inclusive policy frameworks. The findings emphasize that the successful integration of AI into sustainability initiatives requires interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and civil society. Furthermore, transparent AI systems, ethical standards, and environmentally efficient computing infrastructures are essential to maximizing AI's positive impact while minimizing unintended consequences. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge, identifies research gaps, and proposes future directions for developing trustworthy and sustainable AI solutions aligned with global sustainability objectives. Overall, AI represents a powerful enabler of sustainable development, provided that its implementation is guided by ethical principles, robust governance, and long-term environmental and societal considerations.