Our vision. Our team is passionate about building impact-driven products that improve lives. Our vision is to leverage AI only when it can help us enhance equitable access to essential social needs and uplift marginalized communities, in a responsible and impactful way. We acknowledge that when working on complex problems, like expanding access to government benefits, affordable housing and criminal justice reform, technology-driven solutions are oftentimes a piece of the puzzle and more interventions, guardrails and synergies are needed to bring to realize our vision and bring systemic change.
AI as a means, not the end. In the midst of rapid technological advancements, we often discuss the role that design, product, and technology should play in building an inclusive, equitable, and cohesive society. We believe that technology is a means to address critical challenges of our communities in more innovative, efficient, and effective ways, as well as a powerful tool to bring people together and help those who need it the most. But as technologists, we also know that our craft, without a sound ethical and responsible framework, can create harm including amplifying existing inequalities, exacerbating bias, or deepening racial and other disparities, for instance through “digital redlining”.
The need to balance the benefits of AI with its potential disruptions. We want to be intentional and proactive to make sure we are not causing more damage or unintended consequences along the way. We know that our ways of working and decision-making processes shape the outcomes of our work. We know that we need to continuously evolve our frameworks to make sure we have comprehensive guardrails in place to help us stay on track with what we stand for despite the ever-changing dilemmas of building digital solutions for the most underserved communities.
A Framework to help our teams understand AI complexities and implications. This document summarizes Exygy’s latest iteration in that direction. We want our teams to have clear guidance on how to look holistically at the effects, opportunities, and challenges of our work so we can quickly take action when needed. We want our teams to feel well-equipped to reverse or remediate our actions if something doesn’t go as planned. We want to increase our accountability towards our partners and the communities and people we serve. Through a holistic approach encompassing ethical principles, actionable guardrails, and proven use cases, we ensure AI solutions align with our vision and values.
The practical applications of our framework span diverse scenarios, including:
Our responsible AI efforts are underpinned by six core principles: