Artificial intelligence has been touted as a universal problem solver; AI, we are told, can write our emails, analyze spreadsheets, diagnose diseases, and clean up photos and videos – and can do everything far better than mere humans. 

But that’s not quite accurate, according to Tom Bernardin, executive director of the Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CDSAI) in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst. Bernardin, who also serves as associate CIO for AI at the university, compares the advent of artificial intelligence with that of electricity in the 1800s: If someone back then wanted to know how electricity could boost their business, they would need to walk through their whole workflow to find opportunities where electricity could help. 

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“AI feels a little bit like that,” he said. “I can't really tell you how you can use it, but I can give you the building blocks, and I can help iterate through some of the problem steps with you.”

Bernardin and colleagues invited representatives from mission-driven organizations across Hampden County to UMass July 16 to give them the building blocks of working with AI on real-world problems as part of the Ignition program.

The event was less focused on AI than on problem solving, Bernardin said. “Yes, it's about AI, but it's decentering AI, in a way, and focusing on the problems,” Bernardin said. “You need to understand how you would solve a problem without AI. If you can't articulate that well, AI is not going to help you.”

Ignition, which began June 1, is the initial cohort of campusLaunch, a structured AI enablement program at CDSAI; campusLaunch is a hands-on experience designed to help users build AI capability across their organizations. The Ignition cohort brings together local organizations including Way Finders, HILL for Literacy, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Libertas Academy Charter School, Tech Foundry, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, the YMCA, and Square One.

By mid-July, teams had developed practical AI skills and begun building awareness of how AI fits into specific roles and workflows in their organizations. The in-person event was an immersive full-day gathering where they developed working prototypes to deal with real organizational problems. 

“AI can bring real value to nonprofit work when introduced thoughtfully,” said Carolina Rossini, director of public interest technology (PIT) programs and professor of practice at UMass Amherst. 

Participants were reminded to focus on their organizations’ missions and community needs while safeguarding privacy and establishing guidelines, Rossini said. They also learned why careful human oversight is crucial when using AI tools. “The main challenges include protecting sensitive data, understanding vendor practices, deciding which tasks should never be delegated, and ensuring that human oversight is meaningful rather than a simple rubber stamp,” she said. 

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“This directly reflects our public interest technology work: ensuring that technology serves people, strengthens institutions, and advances public values,” Rossini added.

For some organizations, it was perfect timing. 

“We were already sprinting after AI knowledge and thinking about how to integrate it into our operations, and also thinking about what this technical development meant for our workforce development and digital literacy efforts in Western Massachusetts,” said Tricia Canavan, CEO of Tech Foundry, a tech-focused workforce development organization. “With that said, probably 70 percent of my team is technical, so this felt like an incredible opportunity in terms of the timing of what we were trying to do, as well as the opportunities for technical and non-technical staff to work together in this learning journey.”

The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts team had a similar reason for joining the Ignition program. “We've seen AI coming down the pike, and now our inboxes are completely flooded with AI potential and possibilities,” said Dale West, IT and data manager at the food bank. “We know that we need to get a handle on it.”

The food bank team focused their Ignition efforts on their site-visit process, through which they support member programs and ensure compliance with regulations. “That involves a lot of steps: a lot of prep work, a lot of work on site, a lot of decision making, and then some more work afterwards to process what happened at the visit,” West said. 

Working through those steps has been invaluable, said Alyssa Mielke, IT and AV coordinator at the food bank. “We've already made great progress at seeing how wide of a process it is and – which is one of the points of this workshop – figuring out each step of the way,” Mielke said. “It's making us look at what we do, and think about what we're doing, and how we can be better at that.”

The process is empowering, even when the problems are complex, said Cindy McGurl, director of HILL Online at HILL for Literacy. McGurl explained that HILL for Literacy is working on how to scale its services, leveraging technology and AI, to reach more students. “Yes, it is complex, and what we're doing is hard, but we can do those hard things and get past the confusion that AI can create so we can take advantage of what this new opportunity provides,” she said.

Collaboration, both within and across organizations, is an essential part of the program. “AI is best explored in groups and cohorts,” Bernardin said. “We are bringing teams within the organizations together, and also bringing multiple organizations to the table so they can see each other's problems, and they can learn from what others are doing.”

Exploring this AI frontier is inspiring, he added: “I've enjoyed how the moment of AI has brought me closer to people that I hadn't met before, and has enabled me to talk to new organizations about new problems. In a way, AI has been the substrate for greater human connections.”

Ignition is supported by The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, which supports nonprofit organizations in Hampden County, with a goal of improving area residents’ quality of life.