Ethical, legal, social, and economic (ELSE) implications of artificial intelligence at a global level: a scientometrics approach

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) development and applications are growing rapidly. Simultaneously, researchers have also been exploring the ethical, legal, social, and economic (ELSE) implications of it. However, global mapping of the ELSE implications of AI is lacking, hence we explored it through mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods. Using a scientometrics analysis of the publication records (between 1991 and 2020; n = 1028), and content analysis of highly cited publications, our study provided insights on the ELSE implications of AI. Our study findings indicate that ELSE implications of AI development started gaining momentum globally over the last 5 years and we predict that by the end of this decade publication numbers will be more than 750 per year. Europe (46%) and North America (33%) were leaders in publications in this area while Africa (1.8%) and South America (1.4%) have lagged behind. Additionally, the computer science (350) research area had the maximum number of ELSE implications of AI publications, followed by humanities and social sciences (e.g., legal, policy; 322), but have not been explored extensively in the agricultural sciences (23). We observed that the major disparities in studies of ELSE implications of AI were found to be a combination of economics, governance, sociocultural, and policy factors. ELSE implications must be explored through a multidisciplinary approach, taking into consideration the stakeholders’ perspectives right at the inception of AI systems development to gain trust and better adoption by the end users.