Boost Social Impact with AI: Five Tactics for Product and Technology Innovators

Social impact isn't just a buzzword—it's about looking at the bigger picture and asking, "How can our product contribute to a better world?" While non-profits traditionally led the charge, nowadays, startups and commercial organizations are increasingly committed to creating positive social change. For some, it’s the main mission, while for others, it’s a happy side effect. Here are four tactics to boost your product’s social impact.

Boost Social Impact is the twentieth Design Strategy in a series where I share essential tips for creating tech products people love, based on the book Design Things That Make Sense (with a free downloadable toolkit).

Read all articles about Design Strategies here.

Design for Equity and Equality

Equity and equality both aim to provide access to the same opportunities but take different paths to get there. Equity recognizes that not everyone starts from the same place and seeks to address those imbalances. Equality treats everyone the same, regardless of their starting point.

AI has the potential to both improve and exacerbate equity and equality issues, depending on how it is developed and implemented. Generic Large Language Models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s CoPilot, Anthropics’ Claude, and Google’s Gemini are trained on vast amounts of data, primarily sourced from the internet. This data reflects human biases and is heavily influenced by the Western world, which generates much more data than other regions. Consequently, the opinions, interests, and cultural biases of the Western world are overrepresented in these models' training datasets. Use these tools with care!

A promising application of AI is improving equity and equality in the workplace by mitigating biases in job descriptions, resume screening, candidate selection processes, and even appraisal processes. These applications require AI tools specifically trained with bias mitigation and quality assurance for equity and equality to ensure fair opportunities for everyone.

For example, Diversio's AI Recommendation Engine analyzes job postings to ensure inclusive language and screens resumes without human biases, enabling organizations to attract more diverse candidates. Sapia’s AI combats unconscious bias in the early stages of hiring by using a chatbot-enabled blind interview process. Textio, besides helping to create non-biased job postings, also helps to write actionable, unbiased performance reviews.?

Keep in mind that the more an AI tool is trained on company data to ensure a perfect match between the company and applicant, the greater the risk of bias creeping in. To address this, Equalture takes an innovative approach to candidate evaluation without relying on AI. Instead, it assesses candidates through gamification, removing CVs from the application process and making the hiring experience more enjoyable, efficient, and fair.

Design for Inclusivity

Inclusive design ensures that your product can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of their physical or mental abilities, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or age. Non-inclusive designs can inadvertently marginalize entire groups.?

Platforms like Duolingo and Khan Academy use AI to personalize learning experiences, adapting to the pace and style of each learner, including those with learning disabilities. Khan Academy’s AI tutor Khanmigo offers personalized feedback and guidance, ensuring that students of varying abilities and learning styles receive the support they need to succeed.

Generative AI is increasingly being used to create solutions to make society more inclusive for people with a visual, hearing, or speech impediment. Be My Eyes, in partnership with OpenAI and Meta, is one of the frontrunners. They connect people who are blind or have low vision with volunteers for help with hundreds of daily life tasks like identifying a product or navigating an airport. For instance, users wearing Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses can say, “Hey Meta, Call a Volunteer on Be My Eyes,” to initiate a one-way video and two-way audio call with a sighted volunteer who speaks their language. Through the smart glasses' camera, the volunteer can provide real-time descriptions to the user via open-ear speakers, assisting with tasks like setting a thermostat, locating a supermarket aisle, or preparing meals—all while allowing the user to keep their hands free.

To enhance scalability and serve more visually impaired users, Be My Eyes also integrates AI to complement human volunteers. Their 'Virtual Volunteer' feature utilizes OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model to provide real-time visual assistance. By simply pointing their smartphone camera, users can receive detailed descriptions and context about their surroundings through advanced image analysis.

Be My Eyes offers hands free access to volunteers through Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

Whispp uses AI to help people who stutter have smooth telephone conversations. Recognizing that stuttering individuals speak more fluently when they whisper, Whispp allows users to create a personal voice profile based on in-app recordings of their own voice. During phone calls, users whisper, and the person on the other end hears their normal voice without any delay.

Voice-to-text and text-to-voice technology has been around for quite some time and continues to improve daily. For instance, Microsoft MS Teams' transcript feature enables the hearing impaired to participate in video calls, while Microsoft's Immersive Reader converts text into spoken words, assisting individuals with dyslexia or other reading difficulties. Additionally, Google Interpreter Mode and Microsoft Translator use AI to provide real-time translation, breaking down language barriers and fostering communication between people of different linguistic backgrounds.

Be aware that AI can make society less inclusive if the training data is biased. For example, facial recognition software has demonstrated in the past to discriminate based on skin color and gender. Transparency in AI development and deployment is essential for fostering a fair and inclusive society.

Design for Accessibility

Accessibility means creating products that accommodate the needs of people with varying abilities, experiences, or resources. This could mean anything from designing cars that are easy for disabled individuals to enter and exit to simplifying online systems for non-native speakers.

For example, the Hand Talk Plugin uses AI to automatically translate English to American Sign Language and vice versa, facilitating communication between deaf and hearing individuals. Samsung integrates similar technology into their Neo QLED TV, which can be easily controlled with gestures for the hearing impaired. Additionally, their Audio Subtitle feature converts text subtitles into spoken words in real time, assisting those with low vision. AI-powered screen readers plus voice assistants power tools like JAWS (Job Access With Speech) and NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) that help visually impaired users navigate digital content.

Design for Data Donation

What if you would use the data you collect for good? By sharing anonymized data with research institutions or making it publicly available, you could help slow global warming, reduce inequality, or fight diseases. Apple’s Research app allows people with an Apple Watch and iPhone to contribute to groundbreaking research studies. The DNA analysis company 23andMe invites its customers to “become part of something bigger.” Once users agree to participate in online surveys, researchers can study topics and make new scientific discoveries by linking genetic data. These initiatives result in unprecedented amounts of data that is, of course, being analyzed with the help of AI.

Dos and Don’ts for Boost Social Impact

?? Make a social impact because it’s the right thing to do. Think purpose, not just marketing.

?? Ensure your team is diverse. Diverse teams are better at designing products that have a meaningful social impact.

?? Explore successful social venture business models. Sometimes combining a for-profit company with a foundation makes sense and opens up different funding opportunities.

?? Don’t focus solely on the financial part of the business case. Costs are easy to calculate, but the social return on investment (SROI) is not. Aim for long-term benefits rather than immediate financial gains.

By integrating these design strategies into your product design, you can ensure that your innovations contribute positively to society. Remember, whether through equitable opportunities, inclusive and accessible design, or leveraging data for good, your product can make a significant social impact.

While the end-user applications of AI can create profound positive impacts—such as fostering inclusion and accessibility—it is important to acknowledge the darker side of AI development.

Behind the seamless functionality of these tools are often workers in low-wage countries, tasked with labeling data and moderating harmful content. These individuals endure exposure to disturbing and graphic material, performing invisible labor that is essential for training AI systems but often comes at a great personal cost.

The generative AI industry is still in its early stages, and there remains a troubling lack of transparency about the training processes and the people involved. As AI continues to evolve, I hope we see a shift toward greater openness and accountability. By prioritizing ethical practices and ensuring fair treatment for all contributors, the industry can pave the way for new, high-performing models that follow the ethical road while driving positive change.

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This article is the twentieth publication in a series of articles sharing practical, actionable tips on how to design tech products that people don't just use, but love. We'll dive into applying AI in ways that truly matter by making technology work for people, not the other way around.

?You can find all publications here.

The articles build on the world’s leading design methods for designing successful tech products, as described in the book “Design Things that Make Sense”. Visit www.designthingsthatmakesense.com to learn more or download the free toolkit.

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