We believe AI should be designed and deployed with purpose. Flying under the radar is a growing group of social entrepreneurs leveraging AI for social impact. With ethics at the center of their work, they constitute both an early warning system for the unintended consequences of technology as well as an innovation engine, constantly building new ways to address both age-old and emerging challenges.
Now is the time to pay attention to these bright spots, the lessons they are teaching us about building tech that works for humanity, and the role we can all play.
AI for Human Agency is a series of Ashoka Fellow-led huddles where we aim to build responsible AI tools together, learn from each other's case studies, and develop shared benchmarks for better AI.
Ethical Education of LLMs
On May 25, Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical on AI -"Magnifica Humanitas" called for the world to shape the moral vision guiding AI developments. The sentiment was echoed by the co-founder of Anthropic Chris Olah in his own remarks and called for "moral voices" to guide companies like his. Whether a magnificent PR stunt or a genuine request, there seems to be a timely opportunity to build a collective response as social entrepreneurs and changemakers working with and on AI. We met on July 2, 2026 to discuss practical, actionable ideas of what we could do together that none of us could do alone.
Building Sovereign AI Models & Infrastructure
Some accessible alternatives to dominant AI infrastructure exist — but they remain too complex for the vast majority of users. This session moves from diagnosis to demonstration. Looking at both current and previous waves of tech innovations, we ask: what does "accessible" actually require, and who is already building it? With this session we aim to map and lower barriers to open-source or "alternative" AI adoption for each other & civil society.
To kick off our discussion, we will hear from Sascha Meinrath (Center for Agentic AI Research/XLab) and Dr. Abiodun Adereni (HelpMum). Bring your ideas and questions.
September 16, 2026.
San Francisco 6:30 am | NYC 9:30am | Lagos 2:30pm | Paris 3:30pm | Bengaluru 7pm
Designing better AI governance, centering data & knowledge consent
In this session we will look at AI initiatives already running consent-based data collection at scale and translate existing frameworks like the 3Cs into actionable tools in the AI sphere.
October 2026. More info coming soon.
Incentivizing a Race to the Top: AI Measurements & Benchmarks
This session pairs AI harms-side measurement work with positive-standard models, and pressure-tests what makes a benchmark stick rather than stall. Our guiding question: what could accelerate a "race to the top" and decelerate the opposite for AI companies?
November 2026. More info coming soon.
Exploring Frontier Lab Partnership Terms
Reasons to partner with Frontier AI labs abound - from leveraging the best cutting edges tools for impact to influencing what matters in model development and deployment. Yet, there is no shortage of ethical questions, from the harms produced by the companies to their involvement in Military AI. An increasing number of Ashoka Fellows are partnering with AI companies, while other choose to avoid them altogether. This session compares real deal structures directly — rather than debating in the abstract . How do we decide when to partner, and under what terms?
December 2026. More info coming soon.