PROVIDENCE – As artificial intelligence software continues to change how people work, a new partnership between Social Enterprise Greenhouse and new Rhode Island consulting firm is seeking to help nonprofits improve their operations through AI while avoiding job loss.
In today's rapidly developing technology field, “one of the first steps is just understanding what’s going on in our communities, and in the wider network in Providence" with AI, said Matthew Ramirez, chief program officer at SEG.
To strengthen that understanding – and as a result, the organization says, social equity – SEG will work with Ascend Impact Partners, a recently – established Rhode Island consulting firm that specializes in AI, to assist nonprofits, social impact organizations and small businesses in utilizing the software.
The partnership came about partially in response to anxieties that AI could lead to job loss — fears that SEG leadership felt were further substantiated by data in a Casinos.us
study that last month ranked Providence the major U.S. city most susceptible to AI-related job loss.
“From a risk standpoint, obviously there is potential for disruption around jobs, as well as resources, access to skills and training,” Ramirez said, “and related to that, who is in a position to utilize and leverage these tools.
"If it’s not equitably distributed, there’s a risk that resources are not build around broader social good," he continued.
But alongside the risks, AI technology also has the potential to serve as “really powerful tools that can increase the capacity and impact of businesses that are having a positive impact,” Ramirez said.
While AI itself isn't new, the technology "burst into the national conversation and captured imaginations over the last year because of the unprecedented growth of tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT,” said Sam Azar, founder and CEO of Ascend Impact Advisors.
Since that time, "developments are now occurring so rapidly and are potentially so transformational that we can’t afford to let impact-driven organizations just get in line to test out AI applications," Azar continued in a statement. "We need to help them cut in line.”
While currently in its early stages, Ramirez hopes that information and solutions developed through the partnership can eventually serve as resources and best practice guidelines for businesses and representatives throughout the region.
In a statement, Social Enterprise Greenhouse CEO Julie Owens said that the partnership "will connect SEG’s diverse community of entrepreneurs and social ventures with Ascend Impact Advisors’ expertise in AI and social impact to ensure that RI’s social sector and small business community are in a position to benefit from AI, not be left behind by it.
"Further, it will enable us to leverage Ascend’s ChatGPT training and other resources to understand and utilize these emerging tools," she continued.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
