ID: 2139
Presenting Author: Shaina Sehgal
Session: 581 - Experiences in enhancing communication through the application of AI in IA
Status: pending
Sharing our experience using Microsoft Copilot to enhance socio-economic baselines in IAs—streamlining workflows and improving communication and analysis.
Socio-economic baselines are foundational to robust Impact Assessments (IAs), helping us understand how projects affect people, places, and livelihoods. Developing these baselines often involves time-intensive workflows that require multidisciplinary teams to gather, interpret, and communicate complex data with precision and care. Leveraging WSP’s strategic partnership with Microsoft, this paper shares our experience using generative AI tools—particularly Microsoft Copilot—to support socio-economic baseline development in IAs.
Drawing on practitioner insights, we assess Copilot’s potential to augment and accelerate key tasks such as drafting scoping memos, synthesizing literature, interpreting data, structuring reports, refining interview guides, identifying sources for data gaps, and supporting plain language communication. We share real-world prompts and reflect on where human judgment remains essential—especially in interpreting context, navigating ethics, and building community relationships.
This work highlights how WSP is shaping the future of digital practice in IAs, using AI to enhance quality, inclusivity, and efficiency while remaining attentive to risks such as bias, over-reliance, and transparency. We offer insights into how AI can help deliver resilient, defensible baselines aligned with procedural fairness in a data-rich, time-constrained world.
Dr. Shaina Sehgal is a Social Scientist at WSP Canada, supporting clients with socioeconomic research and engagement with Indigenous Nations, communities, and stakeholders.
Coauthor 1: Mina Patel