It’s Tuesday, September 1st. 🎉

Today marks a major milestone for The AI Collective. Hundreds of volunteers are gathering their local communities to come together and build solutions that impact local change, in an effort that has quickly become one of the most global hackathon initiatives in human history.

I’m deeply passionate about this because this is the exact same initiative that I was yearning for early on in my career. As someone with a non-technical background, I had to navigate the early days of AI by myself - with no trusted community to help shape my knowledge, or help amplify my impact.

In the new era of AI, everyone is a builder. It’s never been easier to create change, but it’s never been harder to point it at things that actually matter.

Three months ago, during Humans in AI Week, 250k people across 100+ events in more than 50 countries answered a single question: what does it mean to be human in the AI era? We listened to thousands of people explain what matters most to them and their community. Today, we start building the solutions to those problems.

Hack for Humanity is now live. 120 chapters, 50+ countries, running through October 31st. It is the largest coordinated civic build we have ever run at AIC.

AI has lowered the barriers to building things that once required serious capital and specialized teams. Who gets to use what, and on which problems, is still an open question. Hack for Humanity is our answer: put the tools in the hands of the people who live with the problem.

Most hackathons start with a sponsor brief or a product challenge. This one starts within neighborhoods. Each chapter sets its own problems based on what their city actually cares about. There is no commercial outcome, no product to validate, no predetermined answer. The premise is simple: the people closest to a problem should have a hand in building the solution.

Three months ago our communities told us what was breaking where they live. Today we start fixing it. The best thing we can do is take our technical skills and direct them at making change in our own communities.

For two months, chapters around the world will build real solutions for the communities they call home. Nobody knows yet what comes out the other side.

“AI is lowering the barriers to knowledge,” said Catherine McMillan, Chief Operating Officer of The AI Collective. “We know the problems our communities care about. Now that we’re giving access to the tools, we’re excited to see what happens when thousands of people are given the space to actually work on them.”

There is probably a Hack for Humanity happening near you. And if there isn't, consider hosting one.

Our partners and sponsors get exclusive placements across the newsletter and access to AIC's in-person network — demo nights, dinners, hackathons, and forums across 250+ chapters.

For all inquiries, send us a note at [email protected].

The AI Collective is built by volunteers across 250+ chapters in 70 countries.

Thank you to the thousands of volunteers around the world who make this work possible. We truly could not do this without you.