The Hardness of Achieving Impact in AI for Social Impact Research: A Ground-Level View of Challenges & Opportunities

AI for Social Impact (AI4SI) is an emergent field harnessing interdisciplinarities between the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the social sciences to address societal issues aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), such as universal healthcare, climate action, etc. Despite AI4SI's rising popularity, achieving tangible, on-the-ground impact remains a significant challenge. In particular, identifying collaborators open to co-designing and deploying AI4SI-based solutions in real-world settings is often difficult. Thus, many projects stall at the proof-of-concept stage, unable to scale to production-level deployment. Drawing on twenty-six AI4SI researchers' interviews, primarily from academic institutions though also including some industry researchers and practitioners, and the authors' own lived experiences, this paper employs thematic analysis to highlight structural, organizational, communication, collaboration, and operational challenges hindering socially impactful AI4SI deployments. While there are no easy fixes, the authors synthesize best practices and actionable strategies from interviews and personal experiences, positioning this paper as a practical guide for AI4SI researchers and organizations pursuing socially impactful collaborations1. 1We note that our findings are most directly applicable to academic research groups in the global north, as governmental, startup, and global south researchers' perspectives are underrepresented in our sample.