# Deloitte makes new AI platform available to Scope free of charge

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/01/12/deloitte-makes-new-ai-platform-available-to-scope-free-of-charge/
- Published: 2024-01-12T09:09:00+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Deloitte is providing free access and support for its new Generative AI platform
to Scope, it has announced.**

Developed by Deloitte’s AI Institute, PairD is an internal Generative AI platform
designed to help people with day-to-day tasks, including drafting content, writing
code and carrying out research safely and securely. It is also able to create project
plans, give project management best practice advice and suggest task prioritisation.

The platform has been rolled out to 75,000 of Deloitte’s people across Europe and
the Middle East, and [Scope’s](https://www.scope.org.uk/) 800 employees will start
to have access in the new year. The initiative will include teach-ins and ongoing
support from Deloitte, with a particular focus on understanding the barriers for
those who are not digitally native and have disabilities. Deloitte says this is 
the first step in its ambitions to help make access to AI more inclusive, and it
plans to take learnings from the work with Scope and help other charities in a similar
way.

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Richard Houston, CEO of Deloitte UK and Deloitte NSE, said:

> “Generative AI should be available and accessible to everyone and businesses like
> ours must ensure that the adoption of AI promotes social equality rather than 
> exacerbating existing disparities.
>  
> “But it’s not only about access to technology – it’s access to the skills to use
> it that will really create opportunity to help close the digital divide.
>  
> “We want to increase the accessibility of our AI platform and help Scope make 
> full use of PairD to benefit the charity and the people they support.”

Mark Hodgkinson, CEO of Scope, said:

> “Nearly one in four people in the UK are disabled, and we have to work together
> to build a society which is more inclusive and fair for all. Disabled people are
> often an afterthought in technological advancements, which is why we are pleased
> to be working with Deloitte to remove these barriers. It’s important that technology
> is used as a force for good for everyone and we know AI can be a great enabler
> for disabled people.”

#### More digital support from Deloitte

Since January 2021, Deloitte has also donated over 12,000 laptops to schools, charities
and refugee groups to help tackle the digital skills gap and support people to overcome
barriers to education and employment.

Deloitte has also recently opened applications and welcomed 30 charities and social
enterprises to join [the third cohort of Deloitte Digital Connect](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/10/03/charities-social-enterprises-sought-for-new-deloitte-digital-skills-programme/),
which helps charities scale their digital impact.

PairD, which is being rolled out to Deloitte’s people in the UK as well parts of
Europe and the Middle East, is part of Deloitte’s broader investment in analytics
and AI. The firm also recently launched the Global Generative AI Market Incubator,
in conjunction with Deloitte’s AI Institute, delivering early-stage proofs of concept
and rapid prototypes in Generative AI.

Costi Perricos, Generative AI leader at Deloitte, said:

> “Our Generative AI platform is part of long-term AI investment plans, as we continue
> to explore the potential that this technology could offer our firm, our clients
> and wider society.
>  
> “A key focus for employers should be on how to use these new tools safely, so 
> that they can be applied correctly and create value.
>  
> “As part of our mission to make access to AI more inclusive, we would like to 
> work with Scope to explore how this can benefit underrepresented groups in our
> society, such as people with physical or mental disabilities.”

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