Thank you to the team at RWK Goodman and Greenbank for providing us with this guest blog as part of Tech For Good month at techSPARK.
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping industries and societies. From diagnosing disease to predicting wildfires, AI is already helping to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges. But without ethical guardrails, this powerful technology risks doing more harm than good.
Growing traction
In recent years AI has ceased being the stuff of science fiction and has rapidly become part of everyday life, drawing increasing attention for its wide-ranging applications and transformative potential. A 2025 report from Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI found that in 2024 U.S. private AI investment hit $109.1 billion, far outpacing China ($9.3B) and the U.K. ($4.5B). Generative AI alone attracted $33.9 billion, up 18.7% from 2023. Business adoption also soared, with 78% of organisations using AI in 2024, compared to 55% in 2023.
Some governments have responded proactively, combining substantial funding with efforts to establish legal safeguards that can keep pace with the rapid and evolving nature of AI. As an example, in 2024 U.S. federal agencies issued twice as many AI regulations as in 2023. AI is clearly and firmly on the global agenda.
AI for Sustainable Development
Companies and governments worldwide increasingly recognise not only the financial returns of AI investment, but also its scope for broader societal benefit. Many now regard AI as a key enabler of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and promote prosperity by 2030. Below are some interesting examples of this in practice, tracked against the relevant SDGs.
AI has begun transforming healthcare, detecting diseases early, accelerating drug discovery and aiding clinical decisions. Tools range from retinal diagnostics to brain injury detection. Pharma companies could now have the capacity to run hundreds of thousands of AI-driven experiments weekly, cutting costs and development timelines.
AI can also be used to enhance energy efficiency through smart grids and predictive analytics. It can also aid renewable energy generation by forecasting output and supporting research into the discovery of new solar and other materials.
In finance, AI has been used to enhance fraud detection and enhance consumer protection. Models often outperform traditional methods in spotting suspicious activity, while robo-advisors and chatbots can make financial services more inclusive and accessible.
AI-powered precision farming uses satellite data to monitor soil, water, and pests. In India, AI helps farmers optimise irrigation and pesticide use, while predictive models can help to strengthen supply chains against climate shocks.
Risks to Investors and Regulatory Momentum
Despite its potential, AI carries its own unique and significant risks. It can amplify subjectivity, compromise privacy, and make opaque, unaccountable decisions, which could prove especially detrimental in high-stake sectors such as finance, law enforcement, and healthcare. Key concerns include inaccuracy, discrimination from biased data, as well as privacy breaches due to cyber vulnerabilities. Additionally, the environmental footprint of AI is swiftly expanding, with inference from models like ChatGPT already consuming over 124 GWh annually, and with compute demand doubling every 100 days, a potential trajectory toward tens of terawatt-hours annually over the next few years. Water usage is heading in a similar direction, with up to up 6.6 billion cubic meters of water projected to be consumed by 2027 – enough to meet Denmark’s yearly water needs.
“Greenwashing”, which can arise when businesses overstate their “green” credentials (which could include situations where businesses underestimate or fail to fully understand the environmental impact of their AI use), is increasingly coming into focus. This can be particularly pertinent to AI, as AI providers’ claims on their model’s energy and water usage are often opaque. In the UK, under new powers introduced in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority can impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s global turnover where companies engage in unfair commercial practices, including for misleading environmental claims. As ESG becomes more important in supply chains, scrutiny of AI usage and its underlying environmental impact is only likely to increase.
To consider another ethical angle; Getty’s claim against Stability AI for copyright and trademark infringement in respect of the data that Stability AI has used to train its AI model has drawn into sharp focus the ethics of the way in which AI developers acquire their training data. Investors may want reassurance that AI businesses in which they invest will not face the threat of litigation as a result of “stealing” data to develop their models.
Encouragingly, investor awareness of these issues is growing. The World Benchmarking Alliance’s Collective Impact Coalition for Digital Inclusion brings together 34 institutional investors representing over $6.9 trillion in assets, alongside 12 civil society groups. Their collective engagement has reportedly prompted 19 companies to adopt ethical AI principles since 2022; however, the work is far from over, with a recent report revealing that only 52 of 200 major tech firms disclose their ethical AI principles.
Regulatory momentum is building globally. The EU AI Act is the most comprehensive AI regulatory framework implemented so far and, much in the way that GPDR set privacy standards globally, looks sets to be the “gold standard” in AI regulation. The Act introduces a risk-based framework which bans the use of AI in high-risk applications, mandates transparency and introduces requirements for those developing and deploying AI to be AI literate. As noted above, other countries are also increasingly regulating, although in its recently published Digital and Technologies Sector Plan the UK Government has stated its aim to take a more pro-innovation and anti-administration sector specific stance rather than implement a single piece of overarching regulation..
As AI becomes more accessible, thanks to a 280-fold drop in inference costs between November 2022 and October 2024, deployment is accelerating, making inclusive and ethical AI governance more urgent than ever. Businesses and investors alike would be wise to stay alert to the risks, particularly if ethical applications are key to their business plans or investment strategies.
To help mitigate risks to investors, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia recommends stewardship and integration strategies, including human rights due diligence aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It also advocates prioritising engagement based on the severity and likelihood of impacts, and pushing for greater transparency, contestability, and accountability in AI governance.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant frontier. It is a present force shaping economies, societies, and individual lives. Its potential to accelerate progress toward the UN SDGs, improve lives and develop positive new technologies is immense, but so too are the risks it poses when deployed without ethical guardrails.
While progress is evident, with more companies publishing ethical AI principles and engaging with investors, implementation remains uneven. Only a handful of firms currently conduct AI focused human rights impact assessments or explain how their principles are operationalised. Regulatory frameworks are evolving, but global coordination and standardisation are still in their infancy. Ethical AI is no longer just a compliance issue; it is a strategic imperative for building trust, attracting investment, and delivering meaningful impact.
About the authors
This piece was co-authored by the teams from Greenbank and RWK Goodman:
Greenbank
Greenbank is the specialist ethical, sustainable and investment team within Rathbones Group. It has been creating bespoke portfolios for its range of private clients, charities and trusts that help them to blend their unique financial and sustainability requirements since it was established in 2004. We strive to be the natural home for investors seeking to align their investments with the change they want to see in the world.
RWK Goodman
Tracing its lineage back to 1873, RWK Goodman is a top 100 law firm advising clients across 36 specialist areas from seven offices along the M4 from Bristol to London. Clients range from individuals through to multi-national FTSE and international companies. The RWK Goodman specialist tech sector and investment teams regularly advise investors, founders and management teams – for investors, the cross-sector and cross-party experience of these teams enables them to tailor their advice as you approach investing in any developing technology business.
