The drive for non-profits to really engage with AI

Despite the potentially off-putting hype and noise around Artificial Intelligence and “the rise of the machines” the reality is that AI and machine learning are technologies which have arrived and are on the verge of being mainstream.

Projects to evaluate, implement and deploy these technologies are now both appropriate and affordable, and whilst they must of course be treated with caution, they now represent arguably the biggest opportunity for non-profits who are striving to stay relevant and to radically enhance the services and benefits they offer to their supporters, members and beneficiaries alike.

What does this mean in practice?

The deployment of AI and ML technology can mean many things but the real benefit they bring to non-profits is in the ability they offer to mine and manipulate data at scale. Data is the lifeblood of non-profits; whether that’s to be able to understand more about donors and supporters and thereby to create deeper, more valuable relationships, or whether it’s used to analyse vast quantities of data in ever-decreasing timeframes, to identify and provide back critical information to beneficiaries or service users.

In the latest example of this, delivering a ground-breaking innovation, Muscular Dystrophy UK, Reason Digital, Parkinsons’ UK, the Stroke Association, and the MS Society have joined in an unprecedented partnership to harness the power of AI for good, creating the UK’s first AI health assistant. The Digital Health Assistant (DHA) is set to transform the way medical advice and information is delivered to millions of people in the UK.

The DHA will use machine learning to develop an understanding of the person being supported and continues to adapt to their needs over time based on interactions. This allows DHA to provide emailed content and support specific to an individual’s needs, making it vastly more effective than current alternatives.

This real-world implementation of AI for good, by a coalition of charities, spells out the opportunity for every non-profit to innovate and to harness the latest technologies in support of their cause. The technology is now science-fact and our challenge is to be brave enough to embrace it, to put it to use, and to derive a series of benefits for the whole of society.

This article was first published by Synergy in print format