Can AI Help Businesses Create a Positive Ripple Effect?

As businesses strive to achieve financial success, they often overlook the unintended consequences of their actions. However, what if there was a way to design for positive externalities, instead of just focusing on mitigating negative ones? This is where AI can play a crucial role. The story of the Kit's Coty vineyard in Kent, England, is a prime example of how an unexpected benefit can occur. The passing of the Eurostar train, moving at high speed through the North Downs Tunnel, creates a movement of warmer air that acts against the settling and accumulation of frost. This unexpected benefit is a prime example of what economists call an externality – a byproduct of a company's operations that has an indirect cost or benefit to an entirely separate entity. As we think about the impact of our products, services, and operations, we must remember that our organizations are never really separate entities. We are all connected in one way or another and impact each other in one way or another. So how can we ensure we design for the greatest good and least possible harm while designing for our financial success?The most important thing is to develop a mindset attuned to the impact that we can have on the world, unintended as well as intended, and to become familiar with design principles that can help put that mindset into practice. Mindset, principles, and action are all as important as each other. One well-recognized model is the Circular Economy. Another model that my colleague Vala Afshar and I have developed is the Boundless model, a mindset and set of principles for having the greatest possible awareness, both situational and horizontal, of one's impact and designing that impact to be overwhelmingly positive. We can design for synergy and symbiosis and do our best to ensure our externalities are mutually successful. Once you have chosen your model and have deeply assimilated it into your daily decisions and actions, some tools can help you minimize the risk of negative externalities and increase the possibility of positive ones. As seen below, artificial intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool for both identifying and mitigating negative externalities and designing for positive ones.