Since the emergence of ChatGPT in 2023, generational artificial intelligence (AI) has been growing concern across the labor market, with forecasts showing the potential displacement of thousands of workers due to technology. Amid fears of further unemployment, widespread adoption of AI is expected to widen the global gap in social inequality.
Four startups have been mapped against this background courage I'm creating another course. With the support of AI assistants, these newcomers are looking to advance digital inclusion and create new opportunities for workers.
“In the hands of impact-driven business, this powerful technology can address social challenges and change the balance between fighting inequality,” said Tadeu Silva, director of product and technology, co-founder of Simbi, a social technology startup specializing in data intelligence and democratizing access to incentive funds. Social technology companies are defined by the use of technology to tackle social issues.
Simbi provides tools to reference cross-reference indicators such as the city's Human Development Index (IDHM), Social Vulnerability Index (IVS), and data related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). This allows client organizations to gain a detailed understanding of Brazilian territory and identify where the most pressing challenges and the most opportunities for positive social environmental impacts are concentrated.
“We must acknowledge that artificial intelligence creates inequality in many contexts. Starting with that premise, we reverse that logic and using AI to promote a more equitable distribution of private social investment,” explains Silva.
The platform, called the “Social Demand Map,” is designed to provide data-driven insights, allowing users to provide more detailed information on how to direct resources to areas of their most needy, from a socioeconomic perspective and in terms of expanding opportunities for local populations.
Elsewhere, social technology startup ANA Health is leveraging AI to improve public health services. Dr. Olívio Neto, one of the company's founders, argues that current medical models (which focus primarily on disease treatment) undermine our ability to predict needs and provide preventive care. ANA health breaks in its model by deploying AI and supporting a proactive and preventative approach to individuals.
ANA's health transforms everyday interactions, including WhatsApp, video calls, and conversations between doctors, nurses and patients via phone. This is valuable data that is analyzed to detect symptoms, emotional cues, and diagnostic information. “Instead of replacing healthcare professionals, we aim to enhance our work with tools that broaden reach and improve efficiency, helping to build a more equitable, humane and sustainable healthcare system for everyone,” says Dr. Neto.
In another sector, startup H2B applies the theoretical framework of change. This is a strategic planning methodology used to visualize and understand how programs or social interventions create lasting impacts. Operating as a consulting company, the startup promotes a structured management approach for organizations seeking to promote social change.
One of the founders of H2B, Octavio Augusto de Barros said that artificial intelligence organizes data, identifies patterns, identifies strategic pathways, and works with a limited set of inputs that recommend. “that [AI] Organizing, correlation, and suggesting. But you still need to ask the right questions. And that's where we're coming,” he says.
Versa Educação, on the other hand, is a technology startup in the education sector known as “Edtech,” focusing on training workers without designated workstations in companies, known as “Desmesados” (“Deshless Workers”). In this case, AI is used to design personalized training programs for businesses and optimize employee feedback processes in manual or operational roles.
“When you can connect what workers learn to do and do what they learn, it improves the quality of their performance across the board,” says founder Gustavo Faria. “The stronger the education offer, the better the results will be in terms of added value.”
“Our goal is to provide training that is not only beneficial, but also meaningful and relevant to the day-to-day work of professionals,” adds Maurício Silva, technology director at the startup.
