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National Lottery Community Fund to share key learnings from using AI at free webinar
Melanie May | 24 January 2025 | News
The National Lottery Community Fund has published its 10 AI Principles for how it will use AI, and has said that it will also share its learnings from using AI with the sector – including through an upcoming free webinar.
Its 10 AI Principles include always ensuring that a human is in the loop, that the Fund remains accountable for all the work it does using AI, and that its use of AI is inclusive and avoids discrimination, transparent, and is beneficial for all. They also including sharing its learnings, with a free online event scheduled for 11 March to do so.
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Sarah Watson, Head of Innovation at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“AI is set to be a gamechanger for charities and community groups, helping them to free up time to focus on supporting communities, and to think about bigger questions such as how we address the challenges facing society today. It has transformative potential for us as a funder and could free up time for us to focus on work that is uniquely human, such as listening to communities and our grant holders. Equity and fairness are at the heart of everything we do, and we believe that if deployed in the right way, AI can be a powerful force for good.
“We know that many other funders, community groups and organisations are thinking these issues through, so we encourage people to join us at our free online event on 11 March for an honest conversation about how we’ve developed our AI principles with experts Tim Cook, Founder of AI Confident, and Dan Sutch, Director of CAST, and to share learning and best practice across the sector.”
Guidance for using AI in funding applications
National Lottery Community Fund has also published guidance on using AI for funding applications. In this guidance, the National Lottery Community Fund says that AI can be useful tool, particularly as a starting point with funding applications, and offers tips for using it well, and for ensuring applications meet the Fund’s criteria.
It also urges organisations to use it with caution, warning that AI tools can produce generic content or include buzzwords that don’t capture an organisation’s unique perspective or its community’s voice. It highlights too the possibility of inaccuracies, the need to be careful around what data an organisation inputs, and AI’s environmental impact. As such, it says: “Use AI mindfully, only use AI where it will clearly help you apply or significantly improve the quality of your application.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.