ChatGPT: Literate or intelligent about UN sustainable development goals?

Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are progressively transforming numerous sectors, demonstrating a capacity to impact human life dramatically. This research seeks to evaluate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) literacy of ChatGPT, which is crucial for diverse stakeholders involved in SDG-related policies. Experimental outcomes from two widely used Sustainability Assessment tests-the UN SDG Fitness Test and Sustainability Literacy Test (SULITEST) - suggest that ChatGPT exhibits high SDG literacy, yet its comprehensive SDG intelligence needs further exploration. The Fitness Test gauges eight vital competencies across introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels. Accurate mapping of these to the test questions is essential for partial evaluation of SDG intelligence. To assess SDG intelligence, the questions from both tests were mapped to 17 SDGs and eight cross-cutting SDG core competencies, but both test questionnaires were found to be insufficient. SULITEST could satisfactorily map only 5 out of 8 competencies, whereas the Fitness Test managed to map 6 out of 8. Regarding the coverage of the Fitness Test and SULITEST, their mapping to the 17 SDGs, both tests fell short. Most SDGs were underrepresented in both instruments, with certain SDGs not represented at all. Consequently, both tools proved ineffective in assessing SDG intelligence through SDG coverage. The study recommends future versions of ChatGPT to enhance competencies such as collaboration, critical thinking, systems thinking, and others to achieve the SDGs. It concludes that while AI models like ChatGPT hold considerable potential in sustainable development, their usage must be approached carefully, considering current limitations and ethical implications.

Top 100 highly cited sustainability researchers.

The announcement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided a fresh direction to sustainability research that spans different disciplines. Consequently, scholarly databases made available the mapping of research publications to different SDGs, unleashing many opportunities for analysis. In this work, the top 100 Highly Cited Sustainability Researchers (HCSRs) and information related to them, such as the institutions they belong to, the type of these institutions, the geographical diversity of these researchers, and gender representation patterns, are analyzed. Also, from their publications, their publication pattern, including (i) the least and most researched SDGs, (ii) their Open Access publishing pattern, (iii) their collaboration pattern (iv) the pattern of their research impact, are analyzed. The most sought thematic areas of their research, top journals in which they publish, important research categories handled by these journals, etc., are also investigated. The most significant contribution of these researchers and their recent contributions are also discussed. The data indicates a significant disparity in research focus among the top 100 HCSRs, with most concentrating on "Good Health and Well Being," "Zero Hunger," and "Quality Education," while notably fewer researchers focus on "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and "No Poverty," underscoring the need for a more balanced research agenda across all SDGs. The study reveals that the United States, China, and the United Kingdom are the leading contributors to the top 100 HCSRs, suggesting that these countries are predominant in global sustainability research output, while nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia also make notable, albeit smaller, contributions. The institutional affiliations of HCSRs show a significant imbalance, with only 16 from private institutions compared to 84 from public ones. Specifically, it shows that out of the top 100 researchers, 93 are men, while only 7 are women. The analysis of authorship in publications by HCSRs reveals a tendency towards middle and last author positions, underscoring their collaborative and leadership roles within the research community. All these analyses can inform academia, industry, and policymakers about the most significant developments in research regarding SDGs.