How do people want AI to support and advance their communities?
What the Tech? set out to answer this question in early 2024. We are pretty confident we DIDN’T fully answer it, but we learned a lot about what it will take to get there.
This website is designed to accelerate a community- and youth-led vision for public interest AI in cities across the country and the world with three different uses:
Learn
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View introductory videos and activities on how AI works and how to start using it (e.g., working with ChatGPT).
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See proposed uses of AI from students.
Advocate
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Read concerns about AI from community members, including the need to center youth and community voices through education.
Educate
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While the programming ​associated with What The Tech? is no longer active, we still invite you to browse the educational materials from those programs, including slides, worksheets, assignments, and example projects, from our:
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High school ​workshop (Spring 2024 and 2025)
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High school internship (Summer 2024 and 202)
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​Undergraduate college course (Fall 2024)
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Community Advocacy Fellowship (2024)
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Partnerships
Meet the organizations behind What The Tech? that partnered to investigate the promises, perils, and ethical considerations around AI in Boston.
The Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) pursues civic research to advance social, economic, and environmental justice, in collaboration with the communities of Greater Boston. A major goal is democratize data and emergent technologies and how they shape our rapidly evolving world.
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Contact:
BARI@northeastern.edu
Tech Goes Home
Tech Goes Home (TGH) was a local nonprofit dedicated to confronting digital exclusion and promotion of tech equity done through access to and training in internet usage, devices, and skills training.
While TGH ceased operations in 2026, its proud legacy of digital advocacy lives on not just in the content found in this site, but in its many other projects across Boston.
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Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a longtime BARI collaborator
The dedicated staff of BPS was key in the outreach that made this program a success, whether by literature distribution or making connections with student participants from diverse backgrounds
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Contact:
CITY OF BOSTON
DEPARTMENT OF
INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
The City of Boston's Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) is responsible for management of and engagement with City’s networks, computers and systems
DoIT promotes access to and use of tech in equitable and ethical ways.
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Contact: