Technology is like a phenomenon that is never-endingly discussed by humans. This happens because technology is increasingly present in the current era, creating conditions that are increasingly difficult to predict in the future. The dynamics of technological development are shown by the innovations created by humans. As is known, technology is a human creation that is made to support various human activities. Although initially technology was created only as a tool to support the exchange of information by humans. However, it has undergone changes and shifts by not only functioning as a means of communication, but also being able to participate in the communication process. Some technological innovations that are utilized by humans such as the internet, telecommunications, digital media, and what has now attracted human attention is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence or known as artificial intelligence was introduced in 1956 by a scientist named McCarthy who held the first conference on AI. The conference entitled "Dartmouth Conference" became the initial determinant of the development of AI as an independent field.

Artificial intelligence is a technology that uses large language models to generate responses or messages automatically such as the "smart replies" feature in text messaging applications (Hohenstein et al., 2023). In communication, AI is applied in the form of an automatic reply to suggestion system, predicting what humans’ type by referring to a general text corpus, then producing various responses. Some forms of AI that are currently present in human life and activities such as chatbots, social robots, ChatGPT, and so on. Humans use it to support daily activities in searching for information, discussing, and communicating. This means that humans can discuss various social problems that are currently occurring, such as education, economics, religion, the environment, and so on. This shows that intelligent intelligence has an impact on the human communication process, both positively and negatively (Hohenstein et al., 2023).

The above issues are the main priorities in the sustainable development goals. This global scale program emerged on the initiative of countries around the world in response to social phenomena. The existence of sustainable development goals is intended for each country involved to be more focused in dealing with them. The sustainable development goals planned to be achieved in 2030 have 17 goals, namely ending poverty, hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and adequate sanitation, clean and affordable energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation, and infrastructure, reducing inequality, sustainable cities and settlements, responsible consumption and production, handling climate change, ocean ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems, peace, justice, and strong institutions, and partnerships to achieve goals. These goals are further described in 169 targets measured through 231 indicators (Localizes SDGs Indonesia, 2024).

To achieve the sustainable development goals in 2030, the role of communication is needed by disseminating these goals to the community. The dissemination of information can utilize communication media such as social media, mass media, online media, and artificial intelligence. The importance of integrating AI in communication can be done by recognizing its role as a subject of communication, and not as an object of communication. AI is not only seen as a tool or media used by humans to communicate but also as an entity that is able to actively participate and interact dynamically with humans. This means that humans can use AI to find ideas and create activities related to effective steps to campaign for sustainable development goals. According to Guzman & Lewis (2020) describing the connection between AI, communication, and sustainable development lies in the functions of artificial intelligence including:

1. Use of interactive communication. Artificial intelligence can be used as an interactive communication application to disseminate information while increasing public understanding of sustainable development issues. For example, disseminating information on health, education, and climate change.
2. Analyzing data and disseminating information. Artificial intelligence could analyze large amounts of data from various sources, including social media. The use of AI aims to understand people's communication patterns, for example on social media, so that it can disseminate targeted information. This allows stakeholders to see and be more effective in conveying sustainable development messages.
3. Detecting fake news. Artificial intelligence can be used to detect and prevent the spread of misinformation or fake news, which can damage public trust in sustainable development issues.

The role of artificial intelligence for sustainable development is very crucial. Through these capabilities, AI can strengthen global efforts to achieve sustainable development goals more effectively and efficiently. Integrating AI into a communication strategy not only maximizes the delivery of important messages, but also helps create wider public awareness and participation in sustainable development issues.

One of the countries that integrates AI with communication in supporting sustainable development is Africa. This region uses AI with various approaches and applications such as smart agriculture and food security, natural resource management, air and environmental quality monitoring, disaster management and weather prediction, adaptation to climate change, and so on. AI is used to increase agricultural productivity through weather data analysis, crop yield prediction, and plant disease detection such as Apollo Agriculture in Kenya. The use of AI is to interpret satellite data, soil data, farmer behavior, and crop yield models. This helps the financing package and agricultural inputs according to the needs of farmers. AI is also used to manage natural resources, especially water and energy. Like, Upepo Technologies which uses IoT (internet of things) devices to monitor water distribution points in Kenya, helping to reduce water waste while increasing distribution efficiency. This condition is very important to implement considering the impact of climate change affects changes in rainfall patterns and water availability.

Thus, the increasing development of artificial intelligence technology encourages all parties who support the SDGs to have the opportunity in the future to integrate data-based solutions and advanced technology in sustainable development strategies. By making it an effective tool to achieve development goals that are more inclusive and adaptive to environmental and social changes. One party that can help achieve this is the younger generation such as Millennials and Z. The role of the younger generation, both Millennials and Z, is an important key because it grows in line with technological developments including AI. Both generation groups are also considered to be more concerned with social issues and have reasons to be the most affected groups.

-Rosmalia Ahmad & Diana Anggraeni

References

Guzman, A. L., & Lewis, S. C. (2020). Artificial intelligence and communication: A Human–Machine Communication research agenda. New Media & Society, 22(1), 70–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819858691

Hohenstein, J., Kizilcec, R. F., DiFranzo, D., Aghajari, Z., Mieczkowski, H., Levy, K., Naaman, M., Hancock, J., & Jung, M. F. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in Communication Impacts Language and Social Relationships. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30938-9

Localises SDGs Indonesia. (2024). Sustainable Development Goals. Localises SDGs Indonesia. https://localisesdgs-indonesia.org/17-sdgs