Artificial intelligence is already impacting our lives in a major way. Be it getting driving instructions through our smartphone or getting daily reminders by our fitness device to increase our workouts, all these are manifestations of how artificial intelligence is changing the way we function. What is often less understood is the significant role artificial intelligence can play in the social sector.

Artificial intelligence can potentially help solve some of the country’s most pressing problems. As a matter of fact, it can contribute in some way or another to tackling all of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, helping large sections of the population in both developing and developed countries. AI is already being applied in a number of real-life situations, from helping blind people navigate and diagnosing cancer to identifying sexual harassment victims and helping with disaster relief. Let us take a look at critical social domains where AI can be implemented effectively.

Crisis response – Rainier Mallol, a scientist from the Dominican Republic, was successfully able to predict dengue outbreaks three months in advance with up to 81 percent accuracy after feeding statistics of previous outbreaks to an AI algorithm. This successful harnessing of big data to predict deadly diseases can remarkably change the way we address epidemics. There are a number of crisis specific challenges, such as relief response to man-made and natural disasters, especially rescue missions and disease outbreaks. AI can be applied on satellite data to predict wildfire progressions and optimize the control response. AI can be used in conjunction with drones to look for missing persons in the wilderness.

Precision agriculture – AI can help farmers analyze a variety of factors, such as temperature, weather conditions, soil conditions, and water usage, in real-time. It can be used to optimize planning and generate a more bountiful yield by determining the best crop choices and the most optimal way to utilize resources. AI has been effectively deployed to detect crop damage with the help of low-attitude sensors, from drones to smartphones, to improve the crop yield of small farms.

Educational challenges – AI can be used to maximize the achievement of students and the productivity of teachers. Adaptive teaching technologies can be used to recommend content and courses to students based on their engagement and success with past courses and material.

Environmental challenges – To sustain biodiversity and combat climate change, pollution and the degradation of natural resources. Rainforest Connection, a non-profit organization located in the Bay Area, uses AI tools like TensorFlow to conserve fragile rainforest ecosystems around the globe. By analyzing the audio-sensor data in vulnerable areas, we can successfully detect and prevent illegal logging activity.

Inclusiveness and equality – This would seem like a far-fetched connection but AI-based technology also has the potential to improve social inclusiveness and fight discriminatory tendencies by using and analyzing big data. A good case study is Affectiva, a combined effort by the media lab at MIT and the Autism Glass Project that makes use of AI to automate emotion recognition and provide helpful social cues to help people at different stages of the autism spectrum to interact better in social settings. Addressing challenges related to inclusiveness, equality, and self-determination are some of the most pertinent issues in this domain. These include reducing bias based on religion, race, sexual orientation, disabilities, and citizenship.

Healthcare– Early diagnosis of diseases is another area where AI can help for the better. Researchers at Stanford University and the University of Heidelberg have created an AI-based system for detecting diseases. They found that AI-based image processing software was able to scan images of lesions and determine whether they were cancerous more effectively than professional dermatologists. By interpreting the heart rate sensor data, wearable devices with AI-powered software can detect people prone to diabetes with up to 85 percent accuracy. If they are made more affordable, they can help over 400 million people globally.

Information validation – With the fake news epidemic growing direr by the day, we need systems to facilitate provision and validation of reliable, helpful and valuable information to the masses. We need to focus on counteracting or filtering distorted and misleading content, including false information peddled on social media, internet, and messaging applications. Malicious and false content can have severe negative consequences, from the manipulation of election results to mob lynchings. AI can contribute to this domain by presenting counteractive views to the ideologically insulated pockets across social media platforms.

Infrastructure management – AI can also help with infrastructure challenges and promote the public good in the power sector, waste and water management, real estate, urban planning, and transportation. For instance, traffic light control systems can be optimized with the help of real-time footage and Internet of Things sensors to maximize the passage of vehicles through crowded areas. AI systems can be used to schedule maintenance of public transport systems, from trains to public infrastructure, and to identify malfunctioning components.

These are just a few areas in which AI can help address important challenges. While the potential for its use is immense, scaling it up will need focus, funding and concerted efforts from the different stakeholders to work for the benefit of mankind.

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There are now 2,000 known programmes run by close to 400 social and welfare charities in Singapore. Are these programmes meeting the needs on the ground?

The National Council of Social Service (NCSS), which oversees all social service organisations here, is building a big digital dashboard to find out.

The dashboard will tap into big data and data analytics to track if the supply of social services meets the demand fuelled by social needs of different beneficiary groups.

The council is not alone in its big data vision. Other charities and leaders in the sector are slowly warming up to the potential of mining big data and analysing it to identify social trends and solve social problems of the day.

The National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), for instance, now knows who is donating on its online portal, how much and when. Millennials, aged 22 to 37 years old, form the bulk of donors on its portal, with 11,666 of them in its database so far.

However, it is the baby boomers – those aged between 52 and 72 years old – who were donating the most. They gave an average of $405 this year. People were also found to donate twice as much money at the end of the year – about $400 – as compared to other times of the year.

These donation trends and insights were gained after Tableau Foundation sponsored NVPC for the licence and training to use its data analytics software last year.

Tableau is one of the top data software companies in the market. More than 90 per cent of Fortune 500 companies use Tableau daily to make data-driven business decisions.

Upon learning more about the profile and behaviour of donors, NVPC used that knowledge to target and market fund-raising causes more effectively, said its spokesman.

For those who have donated before, NVPC recommended other charities for the donors. For those who have not donated before, NVPC curated content to raise awareness about various causes to prompt them to take action.

The results speak for themselves. Between April last year and April this year, donation amounts doubled to almost half a million on the portal, compared with the annual average of $200,000 seen in the previous years from 2009.

Globally, countries and companies have been using data analytics software to tackle issues from ending malaria in Zambia to facilitating democracy in Myanmar.

In Singapore, the Government started releasing official data in 2011 on a dedicated site – data.gov.sg – so that members of the public can use the data to solve problems and meet needs.

“We believe that data can have enormous value to non-profit organisations, enabling them to increase transparency and accountability, expand their relationships with funders, discover new trends in their programmes, and tell more powerful stories about their communities,” said NVPC’s chief executive Melissa Kwee.

The NCSS dashboard project will be executed in the next two years.

Supply of social services will be tracked according to outcomes, utility rates and funding of the projects.

Demand for social services will be appraised by quality of life measures, survey of public attitudes towards certain social issues, and other needs assessments.

By evaluating if supply meets demand, NCSS hopes to better serve the needs of the vulnerable in Singapore. It is a big vision which the council hopes to execute in the next two years.

For now, the council has embarked on a smaller data project that allows the listing of resources to be customised to the age group and condition of the beneficiary.

For instance, when a senior with depression or a 35-year-old with a physical disability were to specify these characteristics on a portal, the page will load the services available – be it daycare or support group sessions – on a location map.

Some smaller charities are also coming up with their own innovative data software projects.

Disabled People’s Association (DPA) has noticed that the iconic Flag Day charity projects are slowly dying off because they are very laborious and time-consuming.

It started working with global technology consultancy ThoughtWorks in 2015 to automate Flag Day operations and collect data that would be useful for future runs.

DPA’s software and data analytics allow it to track the registration of volunteers and the deployment of donation tins.

Today, about eight charities are using this software and larger data trends, such as studying the days of the week and the areas in which donations are higher.

Said Dr Marissa Lee, executive director of DPA: “Everything we do is funded by donors’ goodwill, so we have a moral imperative to think smarter about how we use our time and manpower.

“Data analytics is an important and easy way to make sure what we are doing is efficient and producing our intended outcomes.”

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