Philanthropy’s AI Moment

Written By Ben Everidge

Why Donors Must Shape the Technology That Will Shape the World

Image Credit: Adobe Stock By D AI Generated

Artificial intelligence is no longer a technology story.  It’s an infrastructure story. 

Like electricity, public broadcasting, the interstate highway system, or the internet before it, AI is becoming foundational to how societies think, learn, govern, educate, diagnose, and decide.

The question for philanthropy is not whether AI will reshape society.  It will.

The real question is this: Will philanthropy help shape AI before markets, geopolitics, and polarization shape it alone?

This is philanthropy’s AI moment.

 

AI Is Becoming Civic Infrastructure

We are already seeing AI embedded in:

  • Medical diagnostics.

  • Educational tools.

  • Government services.

  • Legal research.

  • Scientific discovery.

  • Military systems.

  • Media and journalism.

  • Nonprofit fundraising and operations.

This is not incremental.  It is systemic.

Just as foundations once helped build:

  • Universities.

  • Public libraries.

  • Museums.

  • Public broadcasting.

  • Community foundations.

AI now sits in that same category of knowledge infrastructure.  And infrastructure, if left unattended, reflects the values of those who build it.

 

The Risk: AI Without Civic Guardrails

AI’s promise is extraordinary.

Its risks are equally significant:

  • Amplified inequality through algorithmic bias.

  • Concentration of power in a few companies or states.

  • Disinformation at scale.

  • Workforce displacement.

  • Uneven global access.

  • Ethical drift in high-stakes decision systems.

If philanthropy retreats from this space, it effectively outsources the future of knowledge systems to:

  • Venture capital.

  • For-profit corporate boards.

  • Foreign adversaries.

  • Political actors operating without consensus.

That is not a sustainable civic model.

 

The Opportunity: Philanthropy as Stabilizer

Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to do what neither government nor markets can do alone:

  • Fund long-term ethical research.

  • Support independent policy analysis.

  • Expand AI literacy across the nonprofit sector.

  • Protect vulnerable populations from technological harm.

  • Build transparency standards.

  • Convene cross-sector leadership.

In short, philanthropy can act as a civic stabilizer in an era of acceleration.

This is consistent with its historical role:

  • When industrialization disrupted society, philanthropy built universities.

  • When fragmentation threatened public discourse, philanthropy built public broadcasting.

  • When scientific frontiers expanded, philanthropy funded foundational research.

AI demands similar seriousness.

 

A Preeminent Philanthropy Framework for AI

For donors and foundations operating at a strategic level, here are five actionable lanes:

 

1.      Fund Ethical AI Research (Long Horizon Capital)

Support:

  • University AI ethics centers.

  • Bias auditing research.

  • Public-interest algorithm design.

  • AI transparency tools.

This is the equivalent of endowing a 19th-century law school.

 

2.     Invest in AI Literacy for the Social Sector

Most nonprofits are behind in understanding AI.

Philanthropy can:

  • Underwrite AI training for nonprofit leaders.

  • Build sector-wide AI adoption toolkits.

  • Fund shared AI infrastructure for small organizations.

This prevents a two-tier system where only wealthy institutions benefit.

 

3.     Support AI Governance & Policy Development

Congress and regulatory bodies are actively grappling with AI governance.

Foundations can:

  • Fund bipartisan policy research.

  • Support independent think tanks.

  • Convene technologists and lawmakers.

  • Encourage international cooperation.

Governance without knowledge is reactive.

Knowledge without funding is fragile.

 

4.     Back AI for Social Good Applications

Direct capital toward AI solutions in:

  • Healthcare diagnostics.

  • Climate modeling.

  • Education access.

  • Disaster response.

  • Workforce transition.

Philanthropy can de-risk early-stage public benefit applications before markets recognize them.

 

5.     Establish AI Accountability Compacts

Forward-thinking family offices could:

  • Require ethical AI frameworks in grantee operations.

  • Build AI transparency clauses into grants.

  • Commission independent AI impact assessments.

This mirrors the evolution of environmental and governance standards in corporate philanthropy.

 

Why This Is a Generosity Issue

Generosity is about stewardship across time.

AI will define how future generations:

  • Access knowledge.

  • Form opinions.

  • Receive education.

  • Participate in civic life.

If philanthropy ignores this frontier, it abdicates stewardship of the intellectual commons.   And the intellectual commons is as important as physical infrastructure.

 

The Emotional Question Donors Must Ask

Philanthropy once built:

  • Carnegie libraries.

  • Rockefeller universities.

  • Ford civil rights initiatives.

Future generations may ask: “Who ensured AI served people instead of dominating them?”

That answer will not be determined by technologists alone.

It will be determined by the guardrails' funders.

 

Calm, Not Panic

This is not a call for fear.

It is a call for maturity.

AI is neither savior nor villain.  It is a tool – powerful, scalable, transformative.

Tools take the shape of the hands that guide them.

Philanthropy has steady hands.

This moment requires them.

If AI is the next great civic infrastructure, what responsibility does philanthropy bear to ensure it strengthens democracy, equity, and human dignity?

The future will be written in code.

The question is whether generosity helps write it.

(To read about the five AI questions every board should be asking in 2026, please visit my LinkedIn article here.)

Ben Everidge https://www.cannonandcaiususa.com
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