Library | ESG issues

Technology & Online Harm

Technology & online harm refers to the risks and challenges linked to existing and emerging digital technologies such as AI, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. While these innovations can enhance efficiency and productivity, they also introduce risks like fraud, misinformation, regulatory uncertainty, and ethical dilemmas, requiring careful oversight and responsible adoption.

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AI-driven productivity gains enable more CO₂ emissions than they avoid in a global energy–economy model

Research using a global energy-economy model indicates that AI-driven productivity gains increase net annual CO2 emissions by 0.47–1.8 gigatonnes under parallel adoption. Enabled emissions from fossil sectors consistently exceed avoided emissions from renewables. Achieving net reductions requires renewable productivity gains to be four to five times greater than fossil gains.
Research
9 April 2026

Leveraging technological solutions for human rights due diligence

United Nations Global Compact
This report distils lessons from 25 organisations on leveraging technology to strengthen human rights due diligence in value chains. It categorises various tools, provides case studies, and outlines practical steps for responsible AI adoption, emphasising that technology must complement, rather than replace, human judgement and meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Research
19 May 2026

Solutions to protect consumers from fraud in digital finance

Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
Curating 56 successful fraud protection solutions, this report details strategies across intelligence sharing, telecom security, and biometrics. It highlights how AI-driven oversight and multi-sector collaboration, such as Malaysia's NSRC and UK's reimbursement rules, can reduce losses and restore consumer trust in digital financial ecosystems.
Research
14 May 2026

AI systems at work: A changing psychosocial work environment

International Labour Organisation (ILO)
This International Labour Organization report examines the psychosocial risks of AI systems in workplaces. It identifies how algorithmic management and advanced robotics impact mental health, autonomy, and privacy. The paper advocates for integrated regulatory frameworks across labour law and safety standards to protect workers from emerging digital hazards.
Research
30 April 2026

The microstructure of AI diffusion: Evidence from firms, business functions, and worker tasks

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research examines AI diffusion through US firms, distinguishing between organisational adoption and worker-level use. While adoption is growing, it remains concentrated in large, knowledge-intensive sectors. Findings indicate AI primarily augments worker tasks, with capital substitution being more prevalent than labour displacement at this stage of technological integration.
Research
24 April 2026

Automation, learning, and career dynamics

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research examines how automating technology affects white-collar career dynamics and human capital. It identifies a potential 'human-capital trap' where automation reduces entry-level learning. The paper recommends targeted taxes on automation and subsidies for task-frontier expansion to maintain long-term welfare and professional skill development.
Research
27 April 2026

Reuters Institute digital news report series

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
This research series provides a comprehensive annual analysis of digital news consumption globally. It tracks audience trends across 48 markets, focusing on trust, platform usage, and the transition to digital formats. This benchmark series informs stakeholders about the evolving information environment and changing news habits across diverse demographics.
Benchmark/series
8 June 2026

Artificial intelligence and the future of finance: A framework for structural change

CFA Institute
This report examines how artificial intelligence is transforming capital markets by shifting the industry from informational scarcity to analytical abundance. It introduces a structural framework involving capability, adoption, substitution, and recomposition, exploring alternative future states and the evolving nature of fiduciary accountability, market stability, and professional expertise.
Research
17 July 2026

Firm data on AI

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research provides international data on firm-level artificial intelligence adoption across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia. While current impacts on employment and productivity are small, senior executives predict a 1.4 per cent productivity boost and a 0.7 per cent reduction in employment over the next three years.
Research
12 February 2026

Seeing the goal, missing the truth: Human accountability for AI bias

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Research demonstrates that Large Language Models exhibit purpose-conditioned bias when informed of downstream tasks. Goal-aware prompting leads to in-sample overfitting and inflated performance before knowledge cutoffs. Results indicate that disclosing objectives compromises neutrality, necessitating the separation of measurement and evaluation in AI-assisted workflows to ensure statistical validity.
Research
22 April 2026

Artificial intelligence and sustainability transitions: Emergent opportunities, risks, and governance

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
This report examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability transitions, detailing opportunities and risks across environment, energy, labour, finance, and democracy. It proposes a three-layered governance framework and a phased roadmap for global scientific alignment, interim safety measures, and a binding international framework convention to ensure societal well-being.
Research
28 March 2026

Preference for explainable AI

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research investigates the demand for explainable AI in high-stakes credit settings. It finds that decision-makers strategically avoid explanations that reveal racial or gender bias to preserve moral wiggle room. Additionally, behavioural biases cause individuals to undervalue explanations even when they complement private information and improve decision accuracy.
Research
16 May 2026

The commoditization of labor

This research examines how technological standardisation commoditises labour by making workers interchangeable. It develops a model showing that while this process increases productivity, it simultaneously reduces worker bargaining power and wages. This framework explains the declining large-firm wage premium and the divergence between productivity and pay in services.
Research
24 May 2026

The hidden human cost of content moderation and data labelling

Equidem
This report examines the hidden human costs of content moderation and data labelling in Colombia, Kenya, and the Philippines. It details systemic physical, psychological, and economic harms caused by lead firm power, informal employment, and intense target pressure, while identifying significant barriers to corporate accountability and worker rights.
Research
29 May 2025

Stuck on you: How to make social media good again

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)
This IPPR paper examines how social media platforms have shifted from user-led spaces to algorithm-driven, influencer-dominated environments through 'sticky gatekeeping'. A UK survey found only 18 per cent of feed posts were personal content. The report recommends regulatory reform, algorithmic transparency, and development of a public social media platform.
Research
8 April 2026

How a surge in defence and dual-use technology investment could reconfigure the global AI race

Chatham House
This Chatham House paper examines four trends — rising defence and dual-use investment, the growth of 'patriotic tech', the push for sovereign AI, and concerns over an AI valuation bubble — that could multipolarise the global AI race, and offers recommendations for private sector preparedness.
Research
1 April 2026
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