Preserving human relevance, as a new social responsibility of business in the AI age

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the scholarly debate, ongoing in this and other journals, on the justification and extent of artificial intelligence (AI)-related responsibilities of a variety of segments of society, such as governments and parliaments, scientists, corporations, media and AI users. Among these, business has received less attention, in both academic and political speech, hence this paper’s attempt to decant the content of a principle of corporate social responsibility related to AI. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper is built on two pillars. Placing the discussion in a framework of corporate social responsibility, this paper first argues that in the AI age, the list of corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles should be updated to include one relevant to AI development and deployment. Second, this study looks at the possible content of a new CSR principle. Findings Born from and still permeated by ethical principles, CSR principles evolve in time, reflecting contemporary societal priorities. If we define CSR as the integration of social concerns in corporate decision-making, then preserving the relevance of the human in the age of AI should qualify as a CSR principle. Like other CSR principles (anticorruption, transparency, community engagement, etc.), this would start as voluntary, but could harden in time, if society deems it necessary. Human relevance is more appropriate than human centrality as a CSR principle, despite the latter being referred to as a desideratum in numerous studies, policies and political statements on AI governance. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that in the age of AI, the list of recognized CSR principle should be updated to include an AI-related one. Introducing human relevance, as opposed to human centrality, as the content of such principle is also highly original, challenging current assumptions.