AI applied to non-profit: what horizons and prospects?

“AI will be dead in a few years. When you stop naming something, it is gone, it is dead. It will be so integrated into everything we do, we will stop naming it. It will be like saying, ‘I did it with a computer.’”

Davide Cardea, trainer and collaborator of INTERSOS Lab, tells us at the webinar of March 27, 2024 “AI applied to Non-Profit.”

Cardea presents us with a revolution, in which the use of AI is still in its infancy. Just think that every day a hundred new tools come out in this field, with all the questions and ethical dilemmas that arise. The truth - says Cardea - is that AI is not in itself good or bad, it is the people who use it and their choices that make the difference. For this reason, it is important to be aware of its implications in our work right from the start and learn to manage them, identifying the priority fields of application.

To put it simply, AI works thanks to three components: the input, the model and the output. The input, or what I ask you, can be of many natures: a pdf, a video, an excel file, and much more. The model, or models, are what the AI processes, depending on the instructions we give it. To make a comparison, it is as if inside it there were a million genes capable of doing things better than any human being, because they have been trained with an infinite amount of information. Some of these genes are specialized in particular tasks and can be experts in anything, any human profession. The output is the final result of the process, which changes depending on the input and the processing.

If I know how to ask AI the right questions, it will give me perfect answers. It is not a generalist, it produces graphs and tables. In the third sector, it is a tool that can be useful to speed up an infinite number of tasks that a human would take hours, if not days, to do. It can help analyze donor data, identify audience segments, manage and monitor projects, analyze the organization's financial data, identify areas for improvement, analyze calls for proposals. For example, after providing data on a project, I can ask how to manage the budget in relation to the context. AI can allow us to make better choices based on data, improve the efficiency and impact of activities, find new donors and supporters, optimize and improve the participation of old ones, save time and money.

A great virtuous example is that of Save the Children, which thanks to AI has created a Chatbot to provide personalized instructions to children in remote areas. AI, in this case, does not completely replace the human operator, but intervenes where it is not possible to provide other types of service, to allow children to study. The chatbot responds like a real person, in all the languages of the world, with age-appropriate language. It has not worsened the quality of the intervention, but on the contrary has greatly expanded its scope, providing access to education to minors who otherwise would never have been able to go to school.

AI does not steal jobs, it is the people who know how to use it who steal them, and those who are left behind are lost. It is increasingly becoming a standard, beyond which one can only grow. Despite this, we must never forget that it cannot go anywhere on its own, it still needs an operator capable of directing it. It is hoped that this use can be as virtuous as possible, and this is where non-profits must operate.