T4G #1 | Give Better with AI
Giving became very visceral, more “real” to me after having my own family and kids. There’s an elementof sacrifice that comes with parenting and giving. But there’s also the powerful element of hope. It’s the idea of putting in some seeds of hope, putting in work bit by bit over time for something better in the future.
Photo taken of my kid working out the kinks in my thesis.
I want to build useful things. I have always been fascinated with technology and I want to use my skills on a worthwhile mission. I found that mission when I joined Give.Asia in 2011. I believe that technology can help us all give better and make a positive impact on the world.
During this journey at Give.Asia, the constant question I have is: "What more can we do with technology to give better?"
Fast forward to 2023, I believe the next technological wave that would propel better giving is machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
There are many talks around the topic of what the future of AI will be. Will AI replace humans in all jobs? Will we reach singularity and humanity is no longer relevant? Will there be another AI winter?
To me, the best and most likely future of AI will be an always-ready, always-available assistant to humans. I believe the human interactions and the often intangible connections between individuals very much define who we are. I don’t think AI will and can replace all of that. But I do believe that we will co-evolve with AI. In the field of giving and social work, a lot will remain dependent on the human touch and trust, but AI can be the superpower that enables everyone to be the change we want to see in the world.
Here are some scenarios that I believe we can give better with AI:
Givers can hear More Diverse Voices: at Give.Asia, we receive a lot of stories from people of diverse backgrounds, of different countries, and use different languages. A lot of our team's work is to translate these stories to other languages and to the most compelling formats possible. With AI models like Whisper (a translator of a thousand languages) and ChatGPT (a copywriter of a thousand styles), we can hear the voices of many other beneficiaries, who may otherwise go unheard.
Givers can have more Transparent Donations: it takes a lot of trust for a donation to happen. At Give.Asia, we validate every single fundraising campaign and organization before listing them on our website. This process is arduous and time-sensitive. I believe AI-powered identity verification tools like Singapore's Identiface or ID.me can make the verification process more secure, more efficient, and simpler, to ensure every donation would go to the intended beneficiary.
Givers can have a more Personalized Giving experience: with the givers' consent and input, we can craft a more personalized giving experience for each individual giver. Imagine every giver can have the best recommendations for the most impactful cases to support based on their unique interests and budget. I believe we can have that Netflix-like experience, to have the best giving experience while maximizing the impact of every penny from the givers' kindness.
We envision the world where everyone can be a giver. Imagine the world where we can all be Santas with the superpower to know whom to give, how to give and what to give. AI can give us the shortcut to that future.
Picture drawn with some brainstorming done on Midjourney AI
I believe that technology, and AI in particular, can be used to give better. Similar to how Give.Asia helped shape the early days of online fundraising, we hope to help givers reimagine giving, to empower organizations and individuals in their quests to make the world better.
In this blog, I will share my thought on how technology and AI can be used to improve our health and well-being, provide access to quality education, help eradicate poverty, aid animals, and assist humanitarian efforts. I can’t predict what the future would be like, but I think it will be better.