The Hero Awards, in collaboration with Afghan Women Rising, announced the creation of the world's largest 'solution engine' for the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as formulated during the Geneva plenary session. According to CIO John Toomey, each of the UN's 169 targets under the larger goals is being converted into prompts for AI bots, starting with OpenAI's GPTs, Gemini's Gems, and Claude Artifacts, and progressing to full-fledged AI assistants that can continuously update themselves in evolving actionable workflows to achieve progress toward the goals.
A significant portion of the work is being done by members of Afghan Women Rising, young women in Afghanistan who are denied formal education because the Taliban-led government has made it illegal for them to attend school. They build the bots online and then hold in-person discussions to refine the prompts and incorporate the human element. 'Having these girls design the prompts allows them to sidestep the ban against schooling,' said Program Director Amy Chang. 'They get valuable experience building projects that will contribute to sustainability both in and outside of their own country for a long while, and prepare themselves for a time in which their talents will be vital for the country's future.'
The girls have been inspired by the writings of J. Kutcher, specifically her evocative use of garden plant growth as a metaphor for the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual growth of young women. When a protocol is completed, its creator becomes eligible to win a Hero Award. To win, the protocol must suggest previously unknown strategies for advancing the UN targets. Successful efforts are publicized on the Hero Awards website and in press releases.
Since the program was announced six months ago, individuals from other organizations in the Global South have requested involvement and will be included in future iterations. These include PARI (People's Archive of Rural India), which serves underserved populations in the Indian countryside; Siku.org, a nonprofit serving First Nations of the Canadian Arctic and Greenland; Cybersmartafrica.org, a group of thousands of teachers and students in Senegal preserving local cultures and improving digital literacy; Terrastories, an open-source application for South American and Amazonian indigenous communities to map and share oral histories; and Winyama, an Australian indigenous group that champions cultural mapping to document 'Dreamtime stories,' songlines, historical land use, and biological data.
June Hero Award winners include Tara Jensen, Maria Ortiz, Herman Matsui, and Wilhelmina Searles. More information is available on Substack and other platforms. Nominations and inquiries can be directed to admin@heroaward.net. The UN Goals and Targets are listed at sdgs.un.org/goals.
