The AI era is here - and philanthropy needs to step up. Last week's Philanthropy Australia Leadership Summit in Canberra was packed with inspiring conversations about bold, inclusive, and impactful leadership. But the standout for me was Power, Purpose and the Rise of AI - a thoughtful discussion between Timothy Rosenlund-O'Brien, Lani Evans MNZM, Anthea Roberts, and Liz Gillies. The message was clear: philanthropy can't sit on the sidelines. We have an important role to play - from funding innovation and digital equity, to improving funding processes, advocating for the ethical use of AI, and ensuring communities are empowered in the AI age. I predict AI will be a much bigger part of the conversation at the next PA conference in Brisbane next year and I'm looking forward to it already. StartGiving #techgiving
I'll post the full deck on my channel soon, however here's one of the key slides which frames The Risks to Social Inequity and Environmental Disaster.
Super curious: Did anyone address the environmental impact & energy consumption aspect of AI? The topic needs serious air time (in addition to incisive convos you mention about innovation, equity, operations, ethics, and empowerment).
Aaron McNeilly
2mo
Antonia - thank you as ever for championing these discussions & highlighting this panel at the Summit. I was so disappointed to miss the Summit, especially the discussion on AI. It’s clear from your post that it was a valuable conversation. You’ve captured a tension I’ve observed in recent years: The for-purpose sector is full of passionate people, many whom are concerned about AI’s risks — from bias and misinformation to environmental impact — but we often lack the agency and action needed to truly engage with this technology. I’m eager to see this change. I'm curious to unpack what is needed to move beyond conversations about what could go wrong (jumping at shadows), or discussions about ideas, and start celebrating the visionary philanthropists who are willing to fund and test new AI innovations, invest in training, and build the sector’s capabilities. This is where the humans like Anthea Roberts and Dragonfly Thinking, Mike Gore’s Charitabl. platform, and Sam Bide at AI CoLab come in. These brilliant solutions and the people behind them, are absolute game-changers. Creating a space for education and conversation is a crucial first step, and I look forward to seeing that conversation evolve and grow in Brisbane 2026.
Great message and I couldn't agree more!
Maree Sidey
2mo
Hard agree, thanks Antonia, and all the panellists!
Joanne Woods
2mo
Such a great summit 👏
Love this highlight and 100% agree that philanthropy shouldn't drag its heels on getting across the uses & implications of AI across their projects/communities/causes (the way it did when the internet hit prime time in the 90's -- I was among the techies trying to get funders to understand the implications for democracy/civil society and give it some bandwidth, but with very few exceptions funders really lagged on it -- to society's great detriment). Let's get going on this round of game changer emergent tech... it's arguably already quite late...
Antonia Ruffell yes! AI is going to be huge and we need to actively engage and manage it.
International award-winning social & political change author | Field Builder @ Minderoo Foundation | Founder of Fundraise for Australia
2moGutted to have missed this one!