Sustainable AI: Exploring Gains and Losses of AI in Daily Routines

Citation: Diefenbach, Sarah and Christoforakos, Lara and Ullrich, Daniel and Veihelmann, Marie: Sustainable AI: Exploring Gains and Losses of AI in Daily Routines. 27. February 2026. Open Data LMU. 10.5282/ubm/data.776

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part of many people's daily routines and provides support in various areas of life, making their lives more comfortable and manageable. However, a question at hand is, whether the effects of AI on individuals and society are purely positive, and whether the perceived gains will remain a profit in the long-run. Our research reflects on the impacts of AI from a sustainability perspective, considering the psychological human needs (e.g., competence, autonomy, relatedness) that are fulfilled or violated through AI and how these effects might unfold over time. As an empirical basis, we present findings from 32 individuals' documentations of their AI usage behavior, and perceived gains and losses over a ten-day period. The qualitative data analysis resulted in 19 categories of gains, and 17 categories of losses. Based on this snapshot of AI in daily routines, we discuss the effects of AI in relations to psychological needs fulfilment as well as societal effects. We relate our findings to previous research in HCI and psychological concepts (e.g., overtrust, boost technologies, psychological biases), and sketch next steps of research.

Uncontrolled Keywords

Artificial Intelligence (AI), sustainable AI, gains, losses, psychological needs, societal issues

References

Diefenbach, S., Christoforakos, L., Ullrich, D., & Veihelmann, M. (2026). Sustainable AI: Exploring Gains and Losses of AI in Daily Routines. AHFE 2026 International Conference, July 20-24, Istanbul, Turkey.

• Item Type: Data
• Contact Person: Diefenbach, Sarah
• E-Mail of Contact: sarah.diefenbach at psy.lmu.de
• Subjects: Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Dewey Decimal Classification: 000 Computers, Information and General Reference > 004 Data processing computer science; 100 Philosophy and Psychology > 150 Psychology