Philanthropies are opening up to the idea of using artificial intelligence in their internal operations as well as in their grantmaking. But they will need to quicken the pace if they want to push the emerging technology toward inclusivity and equity for low- and middle-income countries, experts say.
Philanthropy, like other sectors outside of technology, has been slow to adopt AI. However, it is now embracing AI language tools such as ChatGPT, a chatbot, as well as visual tools such as Beautiful.ai. The technology has the potential to change how philanthropy works, from how organizations review and write grant proposals to deciding which projects to fund.
A few globally minded philanthropies are at the forefront of this movement. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently issued a call for proposals for projects that would promote equitable AI uses in health care and other areas that would benefit LMICs. Meanwhile, the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a U.S.-based philanthropy research and advisory organization, is publishing a series of blog posts to educate funders and nonprofits about AI. And grantmakers such as The Rockefeller Foundation are providing grants to researchers at the forefront of AI development.