John Fitzgerald
John Fitzgerald
Digital Evolution Manager, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Chair of the Community Advisory Group
John works with charities to assess and improve their digital capability - finding tools, sharing best practice and changing culture. John and his team have helped thousands of charities to make strategic use of digital to serve their communities and further their aims.
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We've been working for almost a decade to help voluntary sector organisations make good use of digital and technology. AI has reached a real inflection point, where new and powerful tools are finding their way into off-the-shelf products. It's unusual to see a step-change in technology reaching the majority of people so rapidly. Lots of organisations have been asking us how they might make use of AI, and what risks they need to be aware of. We've found that working closely with the Scottish AI Alliance has enabled us to tap into really useful expertise. In the past six months or so, the conversation has moved onto organisations asking questions about how AI might make a difference in their specific strategic contexts.
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I often use the shorthand 'Additional Interns' to highlight the potential of AI. Used well, it has the potential to help even small organisations spot patterns and automate processes at scale. But we will only realise the benefits if everyone understands the limitations and risks of AI, so that we can put safeguards in place. In the voluntary sector, with limited resources I can see a lot of potential in automating routine processes. This will allow organisations to direct more expertise, energy and care to complex and risky work areas.
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One of my main concerns is that all the marketing and media hype around AI is leading people to have unrealistic expectations of the technology, and miss some important risks and challenges. Many vendors have been keen to rush forward with products without taking time to address ethics and safety concerns. This means that individuals and organisations need to be savvy users of technology, and doing their own work to address risks and pitfalls. AI is not magic, and organisations still need to do careful work on data quality and governance. With the voluntary sector, trust is paramount. That's because we work with some of the most vulnerable people in society, in high-stakes situations. We're also trusted by the public to use their support to do good things. So we need to be sure we are not putting people at risk.