Santa Barbara A.I. Think Tank Helps Non-Profits Use A.I. for Good

Santa Barbara A.I. Think Tank Helps Non-Profits Use A.I. for Good

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Coastal Intelligence Founder Mike Wald is teaching non profits creative ways to use A.I.

“If you're curious. Person. Oh, this is a playground right now. This is like the best time to be alive,” said Wald.

Non profit leaders eagerly joined a free briefing at the Community Environmental County Hub on State Street Thursday morning.

“We took away, you know, the idea of the AI Council, AI policies, A.I. Data limitations,” said Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation Programs Director Eric Shiflett.

The session was designed to help local nonprofits integrate practical A.I. tools into their operations to increase efficiency, reduce administrative burden, and expand mission impact. 

Rich Sander says SBACT adopted A.I. into their nonprofit model early on.

“It's everything from analyzing data, helping onboard employees, helping look at all of our, documents because we're all nonprofit and making sure that they're legally compliant and are compliant and things that,” said SBACT Executive Director Rich Sander.

Much of the conversation revolved around reframing the way we look at A.I. as a helpful tool, not a replacement for human innovation.

“A lot of the nonprofits that we're working with are stressed at capacity, need funding, need more people power. And I can help with all of that,” said Sander.

“They already know how to do good with A.I. Does it have a force multiplier? They let them do more without additional funding, and without having to hire more staff, so they can actually invest the people that they have and use this new technology to advance their messaging and really expand that. What I like to call the ripple effect,” said Mike Wald.

Though A.I. is rapidly changing, many non profit leaders have high hopes for the future.

“What I always tell myself is AI is the worst that it's going to be today. So tomorrow it's just going to keep getting better,” said Rich Sander.

Coastal Intelligence is hosting a 2-day hands-on workshop where participants will receive customized A.I. coaching aligned with their mission. 

The workshop runs through Friday. 

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