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Building Trust, Not Just Tech: 3 Lessons on Ethical AI from the Frontlines

Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world—from powering everyday tools like voice assistants to transforming entire industries. But while the promise of AI is vast, access to its benefits is not. Too many communities are left out of the systems and opportunities that drive health, education, and economic outcomes.
Published on by Elisabeth Graham

At MIT Solve, we believe that AI can be a force for good—but only if it’s designed with equity at its core. It’s time we start asking: Who is this technology for? And how can it meet the most urgent needs of communities too often overlooked?

Over the past six months, we collaborated with Dr. Cornelia C. Walther on a five-part Forbes series exploring how Solver teams are applying AI to tackle global challenges—from climate change and equitable healthcare to economic mobility, access to education, and Indigenous sovereignty. These innovators show us what’s possible when AI is designed not just for efficiency or scale, but with intention and insight.

Here are three takeaways from the series—and a look at the Solver teams turning potential into progress.

1. AI should be designed with communities, not just for them

AI is often built to optimize systems, not serve people. But when developed in close collaboration with the communities it seeks to serve, AI can do much more. It can preserve culture, expand access, and give communities more agency over the tools shaping their lives.

Solver teams like AmarDoctor and MedAi put this into action through inclusive healthcare platforms that incorporate local languages, disease trends, and clinical guidelines. Similarly, the wâsikan kisewâtisiwin is building AI that detects harmful language about Indigenous peoples and suggests respectful alternatives, allowing for more accurate and dignified representation in digital spaces.

These teams remind us that designing for inclusion starts with listening. When AI tools are grounded in local knowledge and lived experience, they become engines for equity.

2. Creative investment can unlock AI for underserved markets

Many AI solutions for social good don’t fit the mold for traditional investment. They serve public needs, not high-margin markets. This gap can stall impact—unless we rethink what sustainable, community-centered innovation looks like.

Solver teams are doing just that. Teams like Lucrefy are making financial management tools available via WhatsApp and SMS—meeting entrepreneurs where they are. Just Value uses AI to challenge historic biases in property appraisals, enabling fairer lending and generational wealth. Earthbond leverages AI-generated data to make clean energy financing more accessible for African SMEs.

Each of these examples reflects a growing movement to align investment with long-term, community-centered outcomes. They show that AI can drive prosperity when solutions are built to be both innovative and inclusive from the start.

3. AI is a tool. People are the solution.

At its best, AI amplifies human potential, but it doesn’t replace it. Whether helping parents navigate the healthcare system, supporting children with learning differences, or breaking down language barriers in classrooms—human intention and empathy will always outpace an algorithm.

Take ThriveLink, whose AI assistant helps families navigate social support programs with just a phone call—no smartphone or internet required. It lightens the administrative load for social workers so they can spend more time doing what matters most, supporting people. Craft Education’s Hunu platform personalizes learning for children with developmental challenges, allowing educators to spend more time building meaningful one-on-one connections. And Yeti Confetti translates and contextualizes classroom lessons in real time, helping students overcome language barriers and engage with complex topics, while enabling more inclusive, collaborative environments.

Each of these examples highlights a central truth: Technology alone doesn’t drive change. People do. And when AI is designed to complement—not compete with—human expertise, it becomes a catalyst for deeper, more lasting impact.

Building an equitable future with AI

The future of AI is not inevitable. It will be shaped by the decisions we make today—who gets to build, who gets to benefit, and how we define success.

At Solve, we’re proud to support innovators who are building tools with this vision in mind.

As the global conversation around AI continues to grow, these innovators remind us that progress starts with better questions. Who is this technology for? Whose needs does it meet? What values are built into the code?

Explore the full Forbes series below:

You can also watch the full interviews via YouTube.

Let’s keep building a future where innovation works for—and with—everyone.

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