How a Tech Accelerator is Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Good

At a time of unprecedented technological progress, the potential to harness tech for the benefit of humanity has never been greater. At the forefront of this pursuit is Fast Forward, an organization focused on scaling startups that combine technology with sustainable nonprofit business models. 

Under its AI for Humanity initiative, Fast Forward is focusing on using artificial intelligence (AI) to build solutions for global issues. “Apart from early tech nonprofits like Wikipedia, Khan Academy or Mozilla, it didn't feel like there were enough examples of people who were using tech to make the world better,” said Kevin Barenblat, co-founder of Fast Forward. “So our vision for the AI for Humanity initiative is to support entrepreneurs who are building and using AI to make the world better.”

This vision aligns with the growing global dialogue around AI, including its role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and as key component of the 2024 Force for Good technology report. 

Founded over a decade ago, Fast Forward supported over 100 tech startups and is a prominent player in the “tech-for-good” landscape via its startup accelerator program, which just completed its 11th cohort. This round comprised of 12 startups, two-thirds of which are harnessing the power of AI to tackle issues like poverty, healthcare inequity, education disparities, environmental injustice and more. 

AI startups in the portfolio are empowering scientists in low-income countries to cure neglected diseases, reducing backlogs in Indian courts to ensure fair and speedy trials, bridging the global digital divide by bringing online learning offline, addressing early childhood education disparities in India, and providing free, virtual mental health interventions to people who need them.

What’s more, Barenblat estimates about a quarter of the 100 startups Fast Forward worked with are now aggressively moving into AI. “The newer organizations are more likely to have AI at the center of what they do,” he said. “Some have more traditional technology models and are now adopting them for AI. Or some have used older forms of AI, like machine learning, and are now building on more modern generative AI tools.” 

One of the most obvious and powerful uses for AI is managing incredible volumes of data, Barenblat said. One example is Reboot RX, a startup working to fast-track affordable cancer treatments using repurposed generic drugs, AI technology and innovative funding models. 

“Mounds and mounds of research exists, but no human can read it all,” Barenblat said. “So Reboot RX uses AI to read through the articles, papers, and research studies to identify the most promising drug candidates, and then tries to find funders who want to pay for the additional research and clinical trials for those drugs.” 

Reboot RX raised nearly $6 million so far and was part of Fast Forward’s 2020 accelerator cohort. 

Yet as AI evolves, so do the ethical considerations associated with its deployment. Barenblat acknowledged that AI is just like any tool and can be used in many ways. "AI, to me, is like the world's invented a new kind of wrench,” he said. “It's not just about the tool, but about the impact it can have."

But nonprofit entrepreneurs are typically focused on solving social problems, leading them to use AI ethically and responsibly, Barenblat said. “We often see in the for-profit world that people build these cool tools and then they try to figure out what problem they solve,” he said. “But in the nonprofit space, the entrepreneurs are typically fixated on the problem — be it education, health inequity, or the climate problem — and they're slotting in AI to make their solution better. Because they're using AI for a specific use case, they can set guardrails that are appropriate for the way that they're using the AI.”

Despite being a revolutionary technology, AI nonprofits face all the challenges of any tech startup and nonprofit. “Tech startup challenges include things like getting product-market fit right, competing for resources and funding, and usually they focus on marginalized customers who are not easy to reach,” he said. “So I think AI helps, but at the end of the day, they're still trying to help humans.”

Over the years, Fast Forward garnered support from major tech giants like OpenAI, Google and Salesforce, all of which provide funding and technical expertise. “It’s usually the investors and philanthropists who are impact first [that support the organization],” Barenblat said. “Also, there are some that are very AI-driven, but most of them are very thesis-driven. They're very much interested in, let's say, climate change or education or health, and it just so happens that now there are tools that can enable that kind of impact for much less cost.” 

That philanthropic drive aligns with Fast Forward’s commitment to shaping a future where AI amplifies human capability, rather than replaces it, Barenblat said. 

"The story of AI is not yet written, and it’s being written by us," he said. “AI presents us with this unique opportunity to write the future. I don't think AI is actually going to solve any of these problems like health, education, climate or inequities, but it gives humans the opportunity to do so. I do this work because I feel like we have a choice to make and it's really up to us to decide that we want to use AI in this way.”