Top Seven Takeaways for Today on AI
(5 minute read)
I recently had two very different experiences when talking with business people about the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Business Person #1 is a very successful business person who said, “I would never use it. It dumbs us down. It is killing our creativity.” This person is a world leader in his niche. The irony is that he uses lots of technology in developing his craft and products to the highest levels.
Business Person #2 said, “About 70-80% of employees are already using AI via free accounts like ChatGPT, with little or no oversight by their organization. They have no policies or procedures in place to help guide or protect them. It’s a bit like the wild west.” Just for context, she is involved, like me, primarily in the nonprofit world and she has high expertise in dealing with fundraising, donor data and communication to donors.
So why does this matter? Here are my “Top Seven” things to think about, and while I’m not an AI expert, I know that it’s here. It’s not going away. And like the invention of the internet, it has immense power for good… and harm!
- Donor Data – Data that a nonprofit stores (giving history, proposals, “notes” made by development staff, etc.) is technically the donor’s. Some organizations have transparency policies (or they should) that state that these records can be requested by donors at any time. What if your development staff is seeking AI assistance in crafting emails, letters or proposals, and then the donor’s contact information, giving history, and personal notes end up leaked or stolen? What are the implications? Risks? Complications? … for you and your nonprofit?
- Continuing on this theme… What if you (your organization) end up in court (for any reason) and this data chain is now evidence in a legal matter? What if you, as the VP or Director, were unaware that your employee was using the LLM to gather data or provide writing assistance or whatever else you can dream up? Do you use Zoom for virtual meetings and use “Chat Logs?” These logs could/would be admissible as evidence in legal proceedings. As my grandpa used to say, “Das ist eine totale Scheißshow.”
- Fiduciary Responsibilities – Has your board of directors discussed its Duty of Care, Duty of Obedience or Duty of Loyalty to and for the organization? They are the legal stewards or trustees of your mission, values and strategy.
- Training – Do you or your staff realize that using different LLMs to do similar work might yield very different end products. LLMs do not know how to think. They sift, gather and organize existing data from myriad sources to create results. If I ask a great question, I’ll probably get very helpful information. If I ask a poor question… look out. (Example: I once asked “my friend” Chat to edit a letter to a client for clarity, grammar, etc. – Somehow it took a left turn and the product was something very well-written BUT absolutely unusable… about a different topic altogether.) The average person does not understand how AI works or these implications. And… I don’t pretend to understand how most of it works.
- Getting Started – Where can you find helpful resources? One resource, https://benevai.org/dashboard has real-world examples of policies and documents that could give you and a board committee a solid tutorial.
- Policy – Once you get some policies and/or procedures in place how will you best use these powerful tools? I don’t ask, “Will you use them?” I believe using them smartly is the only answer. And then:
- How can you best use these tools to engage and strengthen your board?How will these tools help leverage your ability to raise funds?What are ways to tackle problems using AI?What are repetitive administrative duties that could be automated? Not to replace personnel, but to save time and redeploy them to relationship building and other community building activities.
- How else could you deploy these new and powerful tools?
- Vendors – Many nonprofits contract with a cloud-based provider to keep their donor and financial records. Where is this data? How do you know it’s secure? Who owns it? What is the risk to them and your organization related to this? And how do you know your vendor is ahead of the game on these issues?
Are you scared… a little bit? You should be if you haven’t fully embraced the new world we’re in.
This should be high priority for every nonprofit, school, university, church, and business. The companies that are developing these large language models (LLMs) have enormous backing and seem to lack any sense of moral grounding or concern about public or societal impact. They want to make lots of money and control all the data… and they will! And don’t expect our government to create meaningful legislation, as is happening in many European countries, to promote and protect a sensible use of these powerful tools.
So what’s your next move? You could ask my friend Chat?
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Please share this with your friends who are nonprofit leaders.
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This blog shares perspectives on how you could create new story endings that are filled with meaning, power and hope. I facilitate culture-changing processes through keynotes, workshops and consulting that help organizations achieve greater impact. Also, I provide leadership coaching to help executives and aspiring leaders become the fullest expression of who they’re intended to be. If you’re looking for coaching or consulting services, contact me at contactbrianbecker@gmail.com.
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