Empowering non-profits: Students develop AI solutions to tackle social challenges
This summer, 15 students from our talent program AI for Impact joined five non-profit organizations to create AI solutions to address pressing social issues.
Launched at the start of the summer, the AI for Impact initiative is a project funded by Google.org that pairs students with non-profits to explore innovative AI applications. Through this talent program, UNICEF Sweden, the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, the Red Cross, Mind, and Reach for Change have gained valuable insights into how AI can enhance their missions.
"We are a relatively small organization and do not have the capacity to possess that expertise in-house. Bringing in three students with knowledge in AI and machine learning, areas that are completely new to us, and combining it with our experience in development, aid, and social entrepreneurship has created a fantastic synergy and led to significant progress," says Johanna Nilsson, Partnership Manager at Reach for Change.
Discover the projects
UNICEF Sweden
Developed predictive models to reduce donor attrition by understanding and anticipating donor behaviors, and created a tool that simplifies the process for employees to retrieve knowledge from the organization's database using natural language instead of the programming language SQL.
Red Cross
Created a real-time voice translation app to improve communication between volunteers and migrants, as well as an analysis tool to enhance understanding and identify needs based on conversation data.
Reach for Change
Created an AI solution that gathers real-time data from trusted sources, simplifying the process for social entrepreneurs to identify and define problems and root causes of societal challenges and integrate it with Reach for Change's Toolkit.
Mind
Developed an AI system to retrieve and summarize research articles on suicide prevention and mental health, making knowledge more accessible to those working in suicide prevention.
Swedish Sea Rescue Society
Implemented predictive maintenance models to reduce ship breakdowns and developed a GPS interference map for safer navigation.
"All the projects within the talent program have truly demonstrated the value of using AI in the operations of non-profit organizations. The solutions have great potential to be used by more organizations. I hope that more organizations can be inspired by the projects' results and lessons learned," says Carl Norling Markai, Impact Initiative Developer at AI Sweden.
Watch the recording with all the presentations:
About 'AI for impact'
AI Sweden, with funding from Google.org, is running the AI for Impact project. The project aims to strengthen Swedish social entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations working towards social sustainability. During the project, several initiatives will be carried out to raise awareness of how AI can be used for social good and to develop examples of use cases.
For questions, reach out to
We regularly launch new talent programs based on our partners' needs. If you're a partner and want to run an AI project with ambitious AI talents, don't hesitate to contact Sofia Hedén.
Are you a potential candidate and interested in participating in a talent program? Connect via our Careers page to receive updates on new initiatives.
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