Artificial Intelligence and Nonprofits: Panacea or Pandora's Box?

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm.  Its ability to churn out research, generate reports, and create stunning images – all at lightning speed – has generated both excitement and deep anxiety.  The impact of AI has already been enormous and the nonprofit world is no exception.  With the sector notoriously slow when it comes to investing in technology, the question remains: Will nonprofits embrace these revolutionary new tools or be left in the dust of this whirlwind of change? 

 

Meet Our Guests in Order of Appearance  

• Brendan Howe, CEO and Founder, Techify 
• Alexandra Samuel, Technology Journalist and Author 
• Meena Das, Founder, Namaste Data 
• Beth Kanter, International Nonprofit Thought Leader and Author 
• Jason Shim, Chief Digital Officer, Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience 
• Dan Kershaw, Executive Director, Furniture Bank 
• Charles Buchanan, CEO and Founder, Technology Helps 

This episode of Charity Village Connects is brought to you by the RISE Program. Funded by Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada, this free, self-guided and fully virtual training program is available to all charities and nonprofits looking to leverage user-centric design to update, enhance or add to their services. Visit riseprogram.ca to learn more, register and begin your user-centric design journey today.  

About your Host 

Mary Barroll, president of CharityVillage, is an online business executive and lawyer with a background in media, technology and IP law. A former CBC journalist and independent TV producer, in 2013 she was appointed General Counsel & VP Media Affairs at CharityVillage.com, Canada’s largest job portal for charities and not-for-profits in Canada, and then President in 2021. Mary is also President of sister company, TalentEgg.ca, Canada’s No.1, award-winning job board and online career resource that connects top employers with top students and grads. 

CharityVillage Resources from this Episode 

• CharityVillage eLearning: Digital Transformation 

Additional Resources from this Episode 

We've gathered the resources from this episode into one helpful list: 

• “We can’t refuse to look at artificial intelligence until it passes us by”: a new survey finds that most charities don’t understand how they could use artificial intelligence (Future of Good) 
• Weekly Report: Artificial Intelligence (Charity Insights Canada Project) 
• KPMG in Canada Generative AI Adoption Index 
• ChatGPT 
• The Smart Nonprofit: Staying Human-Centred in an Automated World by Beth Kanter 
• How we created AI photos of poverty without harming those we seek to help (Furniture Bank)  
• The Picture Isn’t Real, The Reality Is (Furniture Bank) 
• An eating disorders chatbot offered dieting advice, raising fears about AI in health (NPR) 
• Microsoft pulls article recommending Ottawa Food Bank to tourists (CBC) 
• KFC apologises after German Kristallnacht promotion (BBC) 
• Journalist says he had a creepy encounter with new tech that left him unable to sleep (CNN) 
• Canadian AI pioneer brings plea to U.S. Congress: Pass a law now (CBC) 
• AI could lead to extinction, experts warn (BBC) 
• We Got Social Media Wrong. Can We Get AI Right? By Alexandra Samuel (JSTOR) 
• Why Furniture Bank Has a Responsible AI Manifesto (Furniture Bank) 
• 8 Steps Nonprofits Can Take to Adopt AI Responsibly by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine & Philip Deng (Stanford Social Innovation Review) 

Learn more and listen to the full interviews with the guests here. 

What is CharityVillage Connects?

Welcome to CharityVillage Connects – a series that highlights topics vital to the nonprofit sector in Canada. CharityVillage is a resource to over 170,000 charitable and nonprofit organizations in Canada. This series, hosted by President Mary Barroll, will provide in-depth conversations with experts in the nonprofit sector. We’ll examine diversity, equity and inclusion, innovations in fundraising, the gap in female representation in leadership and many other subjects crucial to the growth and development of charities throughout Canada.