Philanthropisms

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In this episode we talk to Milos Maricic (entrepreneur and founder of the Altruist League) and Giuseppe Ugazio (Edmond de Rothschild Assistant Professor of Behavioral Philanthropy at the Geneva Finance Research Institute), the co-editors of the newly published Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy. We discuss:

• How the book came about, what is in it, and what the aim of it is.
• What are some of the key opportunities that AI might bring for philanthropy and civil society?
• What are some good examples of AI being used to address social and environmental issues?
• Are these examples skewed towards any particular geographic regions or cause areas? If so, how can we overcome any inequalities?
• How are philanthropic organisations using AI to improve their own operations? (e.g. Efficiency, accessibility, impact measurement, grant applications/grant making?)
• How much work is there to be done in terms of getting the datasets required to make philanthropy applications of AI feasible?
• Is there a skills and knowledge gap in the nonprofit sector when it comes to AI?
• If nonprofit engagement with AI requires partnership with tech companies, how do we ensure genuine partnerships (i.e. overcome power imbalances etc)?
• Is there a danger that people and organisations from the tech sector are prone to “tech solutionism” (i.e. assuming that all problems, including complex, long-standing social ones, can be solved by technology)? How can civil society mitigate against this tendency?
• Should we take concerns about AI-driven automation making human workers redundant seriously? Or, will AI merely open up opportunities to focus on different things?
• Does the voice of civil society organisations (and the people and communities they serve) get heard enough in current debates about AI?
• What new laws and regulations might be required to ensure that AI is developed in a way that benefits society? What role can philanthropy and CSOs play in ensuring this?
• What do we still not know? i.e. where are the most urgent gaps for further research in philanthropy and AI?

Related Links:

• The Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy (open access)
• Rhod's chapter for the handbook, "Guided Choices: the ethics of using algorithmic systems to shape philanthropic decision‑making"
• University of Geneva Philanthropy and AI project
• The Altruist League
• WPM to Philanthropy and AI
• Philanthropisms episode on "Philanthropy, Civil Society & AI"
• Philanthropisms podcast conversation with J Bob Alotta from Mozilla Foundation
• WPM article "Philanthropy & Civil Society in a Post-Work Future?"