2024 Predictions for Philanthropy & Civil Society - Part 2

Philanthropisms

As is now tradition, in our final episode of the year we take a look at some of the key themes and trends in philanthropy and civil society right now and offer some thoughts on what the coming year might bring. In this second of two parts, we focus on the opportunities and challenges that technology will bring. Including:

• Will Twitter (oh, alright, "X") finally give up and die? Will we settle on a replacement? And should we even do that, or should we rethink the whole idea of social media?
• Will the ongoing rise of influencer philanthropy, epitomised by MrBeast, bring more criticism and more pushback?
• Will the emergence of generative AI and its integration into already-ubiquitous tools lead to new opportunities for nonprofits in terms of productivity, accessibility and creativity?
• Will we see further scandals over nonprofit use of AI-generated content?
• Will legal and ethical concerns about infringement of copyright and intellectual property rights in the creation of genAI tools have any impact on their use by nonprofits?
• Will recommender algorithms start to reshape how people make choices about giving?
• Will the "boomers" vs "doomers" narrative about the future of AI become entrenched, and will this create challenges for CSOs trying to highlight more immediate AI risks?
• Are new AI capabilities going to turbocharge cybersecurity risks?
• Is there any point caring about crypto and blockchain any more?
• Will the metaverse develop in a meaningful way, or is the required infrastructure still lacking?
• Are we beginning the transition towards a radically different future of work as a result of automation? What might this mean for philanthropy and civil society?
• Will we see more philanthropic funders get involved in debates over population slowdown? Does this risk taking them into ethically challenging ground?

RELATED LINKS:

• Philanthropisms episodes on "philanthropy, civil society & AI" and "cryptophilanthropy: boom or bust?"
• WPM article on the chaos at OpenAI
• WPM article on MrBeast and Philanthropy
• Rhodri on The Bunker podcast discussing MrBeast
• WPM article on philanthropy, population debates and eugenics
• Rhodri's Alliance article "Artificial Intelligence is coming for philanthropy"
• WPM article on philanthropy and the metaverse