From Wow to How: Reflections on AI for Good
Team TBB from left to right: Sadat Malik (CTO), Marina Brizar (UK & Europe Director), John Cameron (Co-founder)
In May 2024, John Cameron, Marina Brizar, and I attended the AI for Good Summit, the UN's leading platform for discussing the ethical and inclusive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This event, highly relevant to the philanthropic community, highlighted how AI can drive social good and address global challenges. Hosted in Geneva by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the summit drew a diverse array of participants. This year, the event was so highly anticipated that it was oversubscribed, with attendees lining up for hundreds of meters outside Geneva’s International Conference Centre. The internet bandwidth strained to handle the influx of digital information, reflecting the immense level of interest and engagement.
The three-day event featured an impressive array of presentations and panels that explored every facet of AI's interaction with humanity, addressing both its benefits and challenges. Kicking off the event, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin highlighted AI's transformative potential while underscoring the necessity for ethical and inclusive AI governance.
"In 2024 — in the age of AI and unimaginable opportunities — one-third of humanity remains offline, excluded from the AI revolution, and without a voice," she remarked.
With over 2.5 billion people worldwide still lacking internet access, Ms. Bogdan-Martin called for unified efforts to bridge this digital divide, emphasizing that inclusive progress demanded equal access to AI technology.
Balancing Innovation: The Risks and Rewards of Technological Advances
The summit emphasized AI's potential to revolutionize industries and improve societal outcomes while highlighting the urgent need for ethical governance and risk management to ensure these benefits are realized equitably. It served as a reminder of humanity’s ongoing quest to harness transformative technologies, which have often required careful regulation and management to maximize their benefits while mitigating potential harm.
Technological advancement often comes with great potential rewards and significant risks, a duality seen throughout history. The harnessing of fire, for instance, revolutionized human life by providing warmth, protection, and a means to cook food, but it also posed risks like wildfires and burns. Early humans had to learn to manage fire to harness its benefits safely.
Jumping forward thousands of years, the race to harness electricity is another prime example. Pioneers Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla laid the foundation for modern electrical systems. Edison’s direct current (DC) systems and Tesla’s alternating current (AC) systems were at the forefront of this revolution. Their competition, often referred to as the “War of the Currents,” highlighted the rewards and risks of electrical power. Edison’s DC systems were initially favored due to their perceived safety, while Tesla’s AC systems proved to be more efficient for long-distance transmission. This rivalry drove innovation and involved intense debates and public demonstrations to address safety concerns.
Edison’s invention of the light bulb and Tesla’s development of the AC motor profoundly impacted society, transforming industries and improving quality of life. However, these inventions also required new regulations and safety standards to prevent accidents and ensure the safe use of electrical power.
At the summit, examples like AI-driven health initiatives in underprivileged communities and educational tools for remote learning highlighted AI's transformative potential in addressing social inequalities. As we harness AI’s transformative power, vigilance is needed to manage potential harm and ensure responsible, fair, and inclusive use. The summit’s focus on proactive AI risk management calls all stakeholders to collaborate in shaping a beneficial and safe AI-driven future.
Empowering Futures: Scaling AI for Global Good
Using AI’s capabilities safely for the betterment of society is particularly relevant to our work at TBB as we scale our strategic technology platform, the Talent Catalog. This platform currently manages data for over one hundred thousand displaced individuals, sharing their skills and work experience to help them attain global job opportunities and rebuild their lives. Looking to the future, we plan to enhance its capabilities through our carefully designed seven-point strategy for AI systems integration. This includes scaling our data capture processes, utilizing existing data more effectively, launching capacity-building initiatives, and empowering registered candidates to take greater control of their job search processes. The potential applications of AI are manifold.
Addressing the AI for Good Summit through a video message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres elaborated on AI’s diverse worldwide applications, while the summit successfully brought together AI experts from around the globe, featuring speakers from China, Africa, and the Middle East. Notable among them was Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei, founder and CEO of AIE3, renowned for her pioneering Falcon AI models and the development of NOOR, the largest AI model for Arabic languages in 2022. Dr. Almazrouei participated in a panel discussion alongside HRH Princess Beatrice, where they announced the AI for Good Impact Initiative. Dr. Almazrouei was appointed to lead this initiative, focusing on scaling AI across various projects and regions.
An important goal of the summit was to connect AI innovators with problem owners, to identify practical applications of AI to accelerate progress. It was a pleasure to share TBB’s plans with industry giants like AWS, forging stronger connections and receiving enthusiastic support for our work. Thought-provoking conversations and engagement with representatives from Google, Meta, Microsoft, the Linux Foundation, and McKinsey will guide us as we move forward.
Transforming Productivity: The Impact of AI Integration
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, delivered the keynote interview, conducted remotely by Nicholas Thompson, the CEO of The Atlantic. Altman made a compelling argument for the benefits of AI, particularly highlighting productivity. When asked about the first significant positive outcome of generative AI, Altman cited examples such as software developers who can utilize AI tools to work significantly faster. “We'll see different industries become much more productive than they used to be because they can use these tools. And that will have a positive impact on everything,” he said.
At TBB, integrating AI is not just about enhancing the Talent Catalog's capabilities and scalability but also about elevating productivity across our entire team. AI has already proven invaluable in our engineering workflows, and we look forward to expanding its application throughout our organization. Our intention for extending AI's use is to drive both efficiency and innovation. The launch of OpenAI for nonprofits, introduced by Sam Altman at the summit, presents a significant opportunity for organizations like ours to leverage advanced AI technologies in our mission.
Integrating AI tools like OpenAI into daily workflows can substantially benefit nonprofit operations. AI can categorize and process large volumes of data for data management and analysis, generating actionable insights for better decision-making. For example, one public health NGO in South Africa uses AI to analyze and interpret health data, prioritizing limited resource allocations accordingly. AI can automate donor outreach and personalize communication in fundraising, boosting engagement and maximizing outcomes. For communication, AI may be used to streamline content creation, ensuring consistent messaging while freeing stretched staff to focus on high-impact activities. Last but not least, AI-driven chatbots have the potential to provide instant support, enhancing program delivery efficiency.
From Awe to Action: Navigating AI’s Next Steps
As we reflect on the innovative discussions and transformative potential for AI showcased at the AI for Good Summit 2024, it is evident that this year marks a critical turning point. Talking to UN News, Ms. Yetken Krilla, head of international organizations at Google, aptly captured this sentiment, remarking, “Last year, with the creation and launch of large language models and generative AI, it was the year of ‘Wow!’ I would assert that this year is the year of ‘How?’. How we are going to partner with international organizations to identify and establish AI rules of the road and the guardrails.”
This year, the focus shifts from the awe of technological advancements to the practicalities of governance and ethical implementation. The UN's leadership in drafting the Global Digital Compact and other initiatives, such as the Summit of the Future, underscores the importance of establishing robust frameworks for AI. As we at TBB integrate these insights into our strategic vision, we are committed to driving innovation responsibly, ensuring that the benefits of AI are harnessed equitably and sustainably for all.
The themes of the summit are perhaps best captured in the words of William Blake: “What is now proved was once only imagined.” The creative possibilities of AI open a vast playground for the imagination. As one visionary philanthropist quipped, “AI is a solution looking for problems.” We look forward to demonstrating AI's safe application and usefulness in advancing our very human work, ensuring that this progress is beneficial, ethical, and inclusive for all. The AI-driven future holds many opportunities, and we are committed to exploring them responsibly.