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Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
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People’s expectations about the future impact of science and technology are broadly positive.
Perception
Can advanced technologies such as AI improve the well-being of humans? Only if we more carefully manage its deployment and its effects on human labor.
Tech for the greater good
In this edition:
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
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‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
The secret of measuring national wellbeing
The secret of measuring national wellbeing
Financial Times (paywall)
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A quick briefing in five—
or a fifty-minute deeper dive
Contributors
The McKinsey Global Institute’s definition of well-being includes a framework of ten contributing factors.
Discover more Five Fifties
The secret of measuring national wellbeing
The secret of measuring national wellbeing
Financial Times (paywall)
Leading your organization
to responsible AI
Leading your organization
to responsible AI
Article
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‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Not just the money
Are those expectations realistic? That depends on how you define well-being—always a
tricky task.
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Affirmed
Some of technology’s potential for well-being is already visible.
Most promising
While other areas show particular promise for the future.
—Financial Times
One of the troubles with trying to
measure national wellbeing: opinions differ on what constitutes the ‘good life,’ what things to include and how to weigh them against one another.”
“
Health
Education
Environmental sustainability
Economic sustainability
Social connectedness
Good wages
Job security
Safety and housing
Trust in society
Reduction of inequalities
Negative
Positive
30
0
70
Expected impact of technological innovation on well-being 15 years from now, % of respondents
Key factors in societal well-being
Job security
Material living standards
Education
Prosperity
Health
Safety and housing
Social connectedness
Individual well-being
Environmental sustainability
Economic sustainability
Sustainability
Equal opportunities
Trust in society
Fairness and trust
Trust in society
Trust in society: Trust in actors in society, privacy, institutional capital
Equal opportunities
Equal opportunities: Social mobility, inclusiveness, equal access to services
Economic sustainability
Economic sustainability: Long-term tangible, human, and knowledge/intellectual capital
Environmental sustainability
Environmental sustainability: Climate change, pollution, waste, biodiversity, natural capital
Social connectedness
Social connectedness: Quality and number of relationships, community, social capital
Safety and housing
Safety and housing: Personal, material, and cybersecurity; quality and affordability of housing
Health
Health: Life expectancy, physical and mental health
Education
Education: Quantity, quality, and accessibility of education
Material living standards
Material living standards: Wages, purchasing power, leisure, inequality, wealth
Job security
Job security: Risk of unemployment, job stability, job quality
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Data and artificial
intelligence (AI)
Connectivity and
platforms
Robotics
Job security
Material living
standards
Education
Health
Equal
opportunities
Environmental
sustainability
Autonomous vehicles can reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption by up to 10–20%
Robotic disassembly of electronic components supports end-of-life recycling of products
Public waste–tracking platforms can detect illegal waste dumping in real time
AI-driven reverse-logistics infrastructure improves product sorting and recycling
AI and IoT power automated traffic optimization, helping to reduce emissions
Semiautonomous vehicles increase mobility of people with deafness and blindness
Exoskeletons empower disabled people in their everyday lives
Digital platforms for disabled travelers provide better access
Inclusive digital tech communities can reduce “insider/outsider” dynamic
AI can reduce discrimination in recruiting by surfacing biases
Speech-generating devices help people with speech disorders
Human-controlled robotic devices can enable surgeons to perform operations remotely
Maternal-health apps and SMS platforms provide assistance to women in developing countries
AI-powered diagnosis tools improve accuracy—eg, in assessing risk of breast cancer in histopathological images
AI-driven drug discovery and tests can result in a 4- to 5-fold decrease in time and cost
Automation of administrative tasks frees up time/resources for education professionals
Automated grading allows schools to replace standard tests with more complex tasks
Tablet-based learning improves results and decreases distress for dyslexic students
Digital support and nudging systems reduce administrative burden on teachers
Virtual facilitators help teachers adapt curriculum to student needs
Intermediated education uses AI to build personalized journeys and improve learning outcomes
Autonomous drones can be used in agriculture to reduce costs—eg, of screening
Food-donating apps help match food-insecure people with donors
Digital portals simplify access to public services
AI can advise the vulnerable in financial decisions—eg, on payday loans
AI chatbots help immigrants navigate the immigration process in the US
Robotics helps to shift human labor to higher-value work—eg, from data gathering to data interpretation
Digital cloud-based work spaces complement geographic mobility
Career orientation and job-matching systems can reduce job-search times by 40–50%
AI augmentation complements employee skills—eg, in frontline customer-service roles
Positive use cases for 3 categories of technology
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‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
The potential for technology to improve well-being in 6 vital areas
Data, artificial intelligence
Connectivity, platforms
Robotics
Data, artificial intelligence
Job security
Material living standards
Education
Health
Equal opportunities
Environmental sustainability
Connectivity, platforms
Robotics
Low
High
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Trust in society
Equal opportunities
Economic sustainability
Environmental sustainability
Social connectedness
Safety and housing
Health
Education
Material living standards
Job security
Scenarios
Steering toward the greater good will require governments and businesses to focus on innovation and on augmenting human labor rather than replacing it.
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
‘Tech for Good’: Using technology to smooth disruption and improve well-being
Discussion paper - McKinsey Global Institute
Dive deeper
Low growth, managed transition
Low growth, low economic welfare
High growth, low economic welfare
Tech for better lives
Proactive management of transition
Reactive management of transition
Focus on cost reduction and labor substitution
Focus on innovation and augmentation
Guidance
Executives have their own role to play by carefully translating company values into their own organization’s use of AI and analytics.
Leading your organization to responsible AI
Leading your organization to responsible AI
Article
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Data acquisition
Are we aligned with our stakeholders’ expectations for the use of their data?
Data-set suitability
Do data sets reflect real-world populations? Have they included data that are relevant to minority groups?
Fairness of AI output
Is fairness considered at every point in the development process, including data selection, feature selection, and model building
and monitoring?
Regulatory compliance and engagement
Do we have compliance built into our workflows and do we share our market and technical acumen in the development of new regulations?
Explainability of AI model
Are we using the simplest performance model and the latest explainability techniques?
Data, artificial intelligence
Connectivity, platforms
Robotics
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Secondhand marketplaces reduce waste by extending life span of goods