How can we support charities to experiment with AI responsibly to deliver impact?
It was great to bring the question of how we can support charities to experiment with AI responsibly to deliver impact at the Civic AI Observatory Unconference last week at Newspeak House in London. The sharing of perspectives and approaches from a diverse group of participants including data scientists, civil servants, academics, charity professionals and AI consultants no doubt marks the start of our answer to this question.
Here’s the thing — just 6% of social impact organisations that responded to our AI survey believe that there is enough AI upskilling support available to the sector. This issue was also highlighted in the unconference discussions. However this contrasts with my recent experience of a week filled with ‘AI 101 for non-profits’ and ‘AI in action’ webinars and workshops — it’s quite hard to keep track of all the support offers popping up.
There’s actually growing support out there but the challenge lies in effectively directing these resources to where they’re most needed — for example, local CVS groups, grassroots organisations and local communities.
The question that resonated the most for me at the unconference was “Where can I find trusted support?” Trusted support is the key here. It highlights that one of the challenges is not just the availability of support, but the trustworthiness of the sources of support (versus hundreds of arbitrary AI newsletters and YouTube channels).
How can we get better at collaborating with the local networks that can really make a difference and who understand the needs of our local communities? How might we start connecting the dots?
The Civic AI Observatory with its WhatsApp community, epic handbook and unconferences is a great initiative full of useful resources. But it’s not yet reaching many charities and community organisations on the ground. It needs more connectors so existing networks of support can benefit. Resources like it need reach.
I’d love to know where everyone else is accessing trusted support on all things AI? How can we better support your existing support networks to benefit from some of these great initiatives?
If you’re interested in sharing and learning together to expand our collective understanding, why not get involved in one of our AI peer groups:
- AI for grantmakers peer group — find out more and get in touch with Dan if you’re a grantmaker and would like to join (dan@wearecast.org.uk)
- AI for digital leads peer group — we’re just about to launch this group through our Digital Leads Network. Get in touch with me (david.scurr@wearecast.org.uk) if you’d like to get involved.
