Foregone benefits
AI is disused (not developed or deployed) in directions that would benefit animals (and instead developments that harm or do no benefit to animals are invested in)
ENTITY
1 - Human
INTENT
3 - Other
TIMING
3 - Other
Risk ID
mit680
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.6 > Environmental harm
Mitigation strategy
1. Establish dedicated funding mechanisms, such as public-private grants and tax incentives, exclusively for the research and deployment of AI applications targeting animal welfare, biodiversity conservation, and environmental remediation to actively redirect investment away from non-beneficial or harmful applications. 2. Implement mandatory ethical governance and regulatory frameworks for new AI ventures, requiring a pre-launch Societal and Environmental Impact Assessment to evaluate potential foregone benefits and prioritize projects with measurable, positive ecological outcomes. 3. Promote collaborative data-sharing platforms and interdisciplinary consortia between AI scientists, ecologists, and agricultural experts to ensure that beneficial models are trained on high-quality, diverse, and relevant data, thereby accelerating the practical, field-level deployment of effective AI solutions.