Technology may be helpful. But articulating the problem is on you.

The latest roundtable on AI and Social Innovation blended expertise from two key players in the tech landscape: David Sarmiento, Research Project Manager at The Alan Turing Institute, and Steph Wright, Head of Scottish AI Alliance, alongside Angela Bradbury, COO at HelpFirst, an innovative ‘AI for good’ start-up.

We began the session by discussing the concept of “techno-solutionism” itself. What does that even mean? David described it as systematically applying new technologies with the aim of solving issues, without actually understanding the mechanics behind the problem – or simply disregarding them. He explained that this can lead to:

• an oversimplification of problems
• applying ‘solutions’ to the symptoms, rather than to the root causes and paying little attention to the broader context, or;
• intending to solve big matters that need thorough exploration and no shortcuts (e.g. ethics). 

Polarised narratives about the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ of AI are creating big hype around the topic. Like a lot of things, in reality, AI is something in-between. We’re witnessing companies exploit the acronym to sell a range of products and services, overusing it in a way that a new word will need to be invented in the future to talk about the same concept! It’s similar to the use of “sustainability”, rendered meaningless when used to greenwash questionable practices.

“There’s so much ego in tech”, Angela highlighted, recalling how many professionals within the tech industry are obsessed with developing an “ultimate solution” to be remembered for. Meanwhile, companies and start-ups are on a race to find out how to harness AI to create an Uber-like model in a different sector.

However, AI and how it is used is all about people. Someone mentioned that “AI is not taking your job” because, basically, there’s someone with enough power actively making decisions for certain things to happen. “AI is not a technology. It’s a purpose and an intention”, Steph explained. It reminded me of OpenAI’s CTO, Mira Murati, recently saying in an interview that “some creative jobs may go away because of AI, but maybe they shouldn’t have been there in the first place”.

Technology is not neutral, and neither is the data that we feed into it, nor the people behind developing the algorithms. It is worth mentioning the massive amount of labour exploited, mostly in the Global South, working in terrible conditions (e.g. $2/hour, with no mental health support, etc.). An example is the work that they do filtering unmentionable stuff uploaded on the internet, so we don’t have to see it. The recently created Union of Moderators is giving voice to such workers, paving the way to a more inclusive, ethical AI, creating the necessary checks and balances to ensure that society and our ecosystems protect the people ‘on the ground’. I particularly loved the quote “let’s make AI work for 8 billion people, not 8 billionaires”. 

Takeaways and tips

At the end of the session, there was some light at the end of the tunnel! A few takeaways and tips for social innovators willing to use AI to power good: 

• Make sure you understand your problem and frame it adequately before applying AI to it, to avoid oversimplifications.
• When implementing AI-powered processes, be transparent about what you’re doing. 
• Speak with your team all the way through, making sure they’re on board with the upcoming changes. 
• Be sceptical when learning about new tools; research further if they actually are what you need. 
• AI must be co-designed, an interactive process, and context-related. 
• Participatory design and open source are key elements to achieve a better AI. 

With all this in mind, we’re ready for the fourth event in our series! “AI, Cryptocurrency and the Third Sector”, on Wednesday the 24th of July, will be an occasion to discover how these new technologies are impacting the charity sector, with some practical examples focused on basic income pilot programmes. 

See you there!