{"id":4515,"date":"2025-07-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cicp-pcpob\/?p=4515"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:53:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:53:42","slug":"charities-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/cicp-pcpob\/2025\/charities-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Charities and AI: Cautious Optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Charities and AI: Cautious Optimism\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries around the world\u2014and the charitable sector is no exception. Over the past two years, the Charity Insights Canada Project (CICP) has tracked how Canadian charities perceive and adopt AI (Surveys 1.10.42<\/a> and 2.10.39<\/a>). In parallel, a 2024 global study by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) <\/a>surveyed over 6,000 people across ten countries, offering an international perspective on public sentiment.
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Together, these studies suggest a cautiously optimistic view: charities and the public see real opportunities in AI, but concerns about ethics, equity, and human connection continue to shape adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI\u2019s Growing Role in the Charitable Sector<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Across 2023 and 2024, Canadian charities increasingly view AI as a tool to enhance program effectiveness, service delivery, and data analysis. Notably, use of AI for content creation saw the most dramatic shift\u2014rising from 68% in 2023 to 75% in 2024. At the same time, skepticism is growing about AI\u2019s impact on human decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I love AI. It has been so useful in writing policy\u2014rewording documents for clarity and professionalism, suggesting resources for problems we didn\u2019t even know were there.”<\/em>
\u2014 Survey respondent, October 2023<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This perspective echoes the CAF study\u2019s findings, where 37% of global respondents felt AI\u2019s benefits outweigh its risks, especially in areas like disaster response, operational efficiency, and outreach. Interestingly, optimism about AI was significantly stronger in low- and middle-income countries than in wealthier nations, where greater scrutiny remains the norm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges and Ethical Concerns: AI\u2019s Unfinished Conversation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While AI adoption is increasingly seen as beneficial, concerns about its practical challenges regarding cost, complexity, and workforce persist. One of the most notable shifts in perception is a decrease in concerns about AI\u2019s complexity, with fewer charities in 2024 agreeing that AI is too difficult to use (70% in 2023 vs. 64% in 2024). This suggests that charities are becoming more familiar with AI tools. In contrast, worries about AI-driven job displacement have remained steady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethical and interpersonal concerns surrounding AI remain a critical issue, and in some areas, they have grown. The most notable change is the increase in concerns over data privacy and security, with combined agreement rising from 61% in 2023 to 66% in 2024. In contrast, fears that AI could reduce personal connections between charities and communities have slightly declined, from 69% to 65%. This suggests that charities may be gaining confidence in managing AI, without sacrificing community engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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