Inquiry Unit Project

Nicole Burgos

October 18, 2020

SUBJECT AREA OF INTEREST

I am very interested in creating and working for nonprofit organizations that will
tackle a variety of subjects on a global scale. One of the most important subjects and
the area of interest for this project is global sustainability. In such a technologically
dynamic world where can we use those resources to increase the efficiency of
sustainable efforts. Using technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help create
systems that will constantly learn, adapt, and be able to regulate themselves without
much human intervention. New technologies developed through Extended Reality (XR)
will make the development and marketing of new products more efficient on a global
scale. The Internet of Things (IoT) can give us the necessary structure needed to
understand and efficiently use the tools that are available for more sustainable living. All
of these tools (AI, EX, IoT) can enhance the sustainable impact that organizations have
on the globe with seamless knowledge of knowing how to use these technologies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The impact of AI in the field of global sustainability will be lasting. It will create better
system for predicting and managing changes that will affect farming, climate change,
ext. It will also facilitate the interdisciplinary data needed to successfully implement
those systems. Within my field resources can be used to have a more lasting impact
because of the efficiency of these systems.

The current shortfalls of AI within the global sustainability platform are that the environment
on a global scale is a very complex system. The AI systems needed to successfully navigate
that are going to be interdisciplinary, which will require open data flow from across the board.
The system will also need to have the ability to be able to learn, adapt, and implemented any
new information by itself in order for it to have a meaningful impact. There would need to be
developments in the way that different disciplines communicate their data and integrate those
systems.
 Systems of these scales can always be abused by those that have the means and
motivation to do so, but it will end up creating more good than bad. Outside of sustainability
systems of this scale can be applied to government, education, finance and any other
institution imaginable. It will create a basis for positive interdisciplinary growth and set a
necessary foundation for systems able of machine learning.

References

Eaton, E., Gomes, C. P., & Williams, B. (2014). Computational Sustainability. AI

Magazine, 35(2), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v35i2.2525

Lakshmi, V., & Corbett, J. (2020). How Artificial Intelligence Improves Agricultural
Productivity and Sustainability: A Global Thematic Analysis. A Proceedings of the 53rd
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 5202-5211.
http://hdl.handle.net/10125/64381

Extended Reality (XR)

The real game changer with the use of EX within nonprofit organizations and global
sustainability will be in the ability to for strengthened collaboration across the globe. The
sharing of data in an EX environment will greatly increase the ability for changes and ideas to
be implemented unilaterally once a decision is made. Being able to share solutions and
present them in 3D is going to compliment AI systems and sustain more developed projects.

The current shortfall of EX will be how expensive it can be depending on the organization
that is controlling the resources needed. There needs to be widespread interdisciplinary
cooperation in order for EX to be used successfully on a global scale. It would be focusing EX
on product and idea development and making it accessible for all organization that want to for
global efforts.

The only bad I could foresee happening if we develop EX to a level where it can be used
seamlessly would be for criminal purposes. Criminal organization and individuals can use this
technology to investigate protentional targets and get real time data before they actual go to
the location. As good as it would be for the development of new products and the fostering of
new ideas, it would be equally as enchanting for those with bad intent.

References
Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, R., Bucea-Manea-Țoniş, R., Simion, V. E., Ilic, D., Braicu, C., &
Manea, N. (2020). Sustainability in Higher Education: The Relationship between Work-
Life Balance and XR E-Learning Facilities. Sustainability, 12(14), 5872.
doi:10.3390/su12145872

Bran, E., Bautu, B., & Popovici, D. M. (2020). Towards a Sustainable Future: Ubiquitous
Knowledge Mixed Reality Museum. A Procedia Computer Science, 176, 2878-2885.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2020.09.266

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT has already begun to change the way that people will learn and grow within my field.
It provides a means for the data to be read and accurate results will usually be received. It is
being used on smaller scales like homes and businesses, but you can also see on a larger
scale like cities. It will streamline data so that efficient solutions can be taken for specific
problems.

There are too many of resources from the IoT that are being held by specific
organizations. This will do two things: make IoT resources more expensive and create a
possible bias in the results given. There needs to be a decentralization of IoT resources in
order to ensure accurate data and it will create a platform for a global scale implementation of
IoT sensors. This will increase the impact that IoT has on a global scale rather than just an
individual one.

The flip side of developing IoT globally and letting is become part of everyday life is that
it will attract the criminal element that is already present on an individual level. There are
criminals that already cheat the IoT to gain access to smart homes, cars, ext. The
development of IoT would give them motivation and access to every global system if they have
the means to achieve it. For all the good that a global IoT system can achieve there will be
people trying to take advantage of the system.

References

Bibri, S. E. (2018). The IoT for smart sustainable cities of the future: An analytical
framework for sensor-based big data applications for environmental
sustainability. Sustainable Cities and Society, 38, 230–253.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.12.034
Mocnej, J., Seah, W. K. G., Pekar, A., & Zolotova, I. (2018). Decentralized IoT
Architecture for Efficient Resources Utilization. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 51(6), 168–173.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.07.148

Research Conclusions
There are many positive things that can come from the development of AI, EX, and IoT
in the realm of sustainability. The growth and development of these technologies would push
many organizations and projects on a global level. It would require and nurture global
collaboration and the AI, EX, and IoT systems would facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation in
every way. From my research the biggest obstacle to this global development is that most of
this technology is in the hands of private organizations. This increases prices and makes
interdisciplinary cooperation difficult. The AI needs to be development more technologically so
that it reaches a point where the systems are capable of machine learning. The EX and IoT
systems need to be safeguarded against criminal acts and move out of private hand. There
needs to be a decentralization of resources so that global sustainability (and many other
industries) can development with all technologies available at full capacity.

Personal Learning experience

It was very rewarding to research and explore the AI, EX, and IoT technologies and their
uses to my chosen subject of interest. I learned that there is so much room for these
technologies to development under the guise of sustainability and that the possibilities are
endless depending on how they are developed. I would greatly benefit from these technologies
continued development and their advancement into different industries. It was very educational
reading different articles and journals on how other are trying to achieve these goals. The future
will rely on technologies like AI, EX, and IoT, but it is necessary to continually develop these
systems.

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