PITTSBURGH — Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for businesses and organizations, but for nonprofits looking to adapt to the technology, the transition can be daunting.  

“The fear of the unknown holds people back, so it’s important to educate organizations and teach them what AI really is,” said Ganes Kesari, founder and chief decision scientist at Innovation Titan.   

The Nittany AI Alliance, a Penn State Outreach service, connects technology leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs to the Penn State community by creating meaningful student engagement opportunities focused on using AI to solve real-world problems. The program is working with Innovation Titan to help nonprofits increase their impact in communities by using AI to make data-driven decisions.  

To pilot the initiative, the two co-hosted an AI Readiness Workshop for nonprofits at the Penn State Center Pittsburgh. The workshop was made possible through a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network in collaboration with Sandra Allain, director of the Law, Policy, and Engineering (LPE) program at Penn State.  

“Artificial intelligence is emerging as a disruptive force that will impact every industry. Our goal is to help nonprofits identify opportunities to leverage this disruptive force to improve efficiencies, increase capacity, and approach challenges in new ways,” said Daren Coudriet, executive director of the Nittany AI Alliance and executive director of innovation for Penn State Outreach. “Our programs increase the University’s land-grant impact while providing students with experiential learning opportunities that help prepare them for an AI-enabled world.”  

Kelsey Munsick, a community tree specialist for the environmental nonprofit Tree Pittsburgh, attended the workshop to learn how AI could help the organization with its goal of creating healthy urban forests by inspiring and engaging people to maintain, plant and protect trees.  

“One challenge that we have is whether we have anyone on staff that has training or a thorough understanding of what AI has to offer. That is why this workshop was so important,” Munsick said. “It allowed me to bring back knowledge and understanding so we can best chart a path forward.” 

Kesari said AI can help nonprofits expand and capture the impact of the important work they do without a high price tag. 

“There is this perception that it is very expensive, and you need a big budget or a team of data scientists to build solutions and that is not true. Today, AI is increasingly getting democratized,” Kesari said. “Importantly for nonprofits, it can help them scale operations at a fraction of the cost. Traditionally, they would have had to hire armies of people and buy expensive licenses, which they don’t have the budget for.” 

During the workshop, attendees identified individual challenges for their organizations and built roadmaps for how they could use AI in the future.  

Paige Coloa, director of strategy and analysis for the Green Building Alliance — a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that works to create spaces that are healthy for people and the environment — said that roadmap includes using AI to help staff with complicated analysis related to building efficiency and performance. 

“Each building has unique challenges that affect its performance, so being able to create a model which synthesizes some common challenges could go a long way toward providing deeper, personalized plans to help property owners reduce their energy use and carbon emissions,” Coloa said. “The workshop helped to better explain how machine learning models are built, as well as give concrete examples of how other nonprofits have used them to their advantage.” 

Coudriet and Kesari said they hope to be a guiding hand for these organizations and others, offering resources and opportunities for future collaborations to help them reach their goals.  

Penn State students Thomas Foltz and Poorvika Vijayanand are part of a Nittany AI Advance team that is currently working with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to automize the identification of dangerous instances on subway platforms.  

“I was really interested in seeing how AI could be used to make a difference. It is cool to be part of a project and see how new technology can play out in terms of helping people,” Vijayanand said of her continuing work on the project.  

“There are many students at Penn State who are eager to use the tools learned in the classroom in the real world," said Foltz.  

During the workshop, Foltz and Vijayanand worked with attendees to identify ways AI could advance their work.  

“I think it was a very useful exercise for both parties, for us and for them, to help them come up with ideas and some unique solutions. I think it inspired a lot of conversations that I don't think would have happened and a lot of different project ideas on ways they could use AI that they didn't realize could make their life a little easier,” Foltz said.  

Kalin Drennen, resource conservationist for Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD), said the possibilities could prove to be impactful as it continues to protect, restore and preserve natural resources in the region.  

“Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) could view AI as being out of reach and become left behind as technology progresses. For this reason, it is crucial that NPOs understand how to leverage AI effectively and efficiently, to ensure the best use of finite resources,” said Drennen. “ACCD looks forward to working alongside Penn State and the Nittany AI Alliance as we evaluate how this powerful technology could help us best serve local communities and promote our organization’s mission.”