Philanthropy, Civil Society and AI

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In this episode we take a deep dive into the opportunities and challenges that artificial intelligence might bring for philanthropy and civil society. Including:

• Why is everyone talking about AI all of a sudden?
• What do we actually mean by "AI"?
• How much of the talk about "AI For Good" is substantive, and how much is hype?
• What are some of the best examples of nonprofits/funders currently making use of AI?
• What impact will the emergence of new AI capabilites around process automation, image recognition, natural language processing, content generation etc have on the way that nonprofits work?
• What are the risks of "naive automation"? Why should make sure that there are still "humans in the loop"?
• How do we guard against the risk of systems like ChatGPT providing false or inaccurate information?
• What lessons can we learn from recent examples of nonprofits using ChatGPT and generative AI badly?
• How will AI affect the wider financial and regulatory environment for CSOs?
• What impact will AI, in the form of recommender algorithms, have on the ways in which we make choices about where and how to give?
• Could we see the emergence of fully automated "philgorithms"?
• How can nonprofits combat the risks of algorithmic bias, both in terms of how it affects them and the people/communities they serve?
• What role can nonprofits play in addressing AI-driven misinformation & disinformation?
• What role does civil society have to play in exploring new visions for a "post-work" future?
• Should we take warnings of existential risks from AI seriously? If so, what does this mean for philanthropy?
• What role should funders/CSOs play in highlighting the potential harms of AI? What barriers prevent them from doing this at present?

Related Links:

• WPM guide to  philanthropy and AI 
• Rhod's piece for NPC's 20th anniversary essay collection, "Would AI be good or bad for philanthropy? Will AI replace grant-makers?"
• NPC's recent event "AI in the charity sector: getting past the hype", where Rhod was a panellist alongside Tania Duarte of We And AI and Tris Lumley of NPC
• Rhod's Alliance article "Artificial intelligence is coming for philanthropy"
• Philanthropisms podcast 2023 Predictions episode
• Philanthropisms podcast episode on the Platformisation of Philanthropy