I used to believe technology was an inherent force for good. Wikipedia. Arab Spring. People-powered politics. Then came the last decade and I had to update my priors. Now I believe tech can be a force for good — but only when it's in service of worthy goals.
In this AI frenzy, I'm focused on finding the uses that seem legitimately valuable for society, for work, for daily life. Here are three recent favorites:
Protecting vulnerable voices
Members of marginalized communities often have vital stories to tell but can't tell them publicly. The old darkened-silhouette-plus-voice-changer approach doesn't exactly cultivate empathy. HeardSeenLoved is using HeyGen avatars and ElevenLabs voices to create first-person testimonial videos from parents of trans and gender-expansive kids that protect anonymity while delivering the genuine emotional impact.
Powering climate media
The news business is brutal right now, especially for journalists covering complex, consequential topics. Michael Thomas runs Cleanview, a thriving one-person operation helping journalists and clean-energy leaders make sense of the solar, wind, and data center industries — thanks to his clever use of AI to multiply his ability to wrangle data, build software, and run a business solo that would otherwise require a big team.
Closing information gaps
Nannies, house cleaners, and home health aides often need to advocate for themselves despite language barriers and power differentials. The National Domestic Workers Alliance built a multilingual chatbot named Aya that provides high-quality guidance on the complex, interpersonal situations domestic workers face every day. (Aya is launching soon!)
What are you seeing?
What are the most interesting or surprising AI use cases that you've come across? And if your organization is trying to figure out how to adopt AI in service of your team and your mission, we'd love to chat.