There is nothing automatic about new technologies bringing widespread prosperity. Whether they do or not is an economic, social, and political choice.
Daron Acemoglu, economic sciences Nobel Prize 2024
Empowering students and professionals to understand, shape, and apply AI for Public Interest - A 10-week accelerator for responsible, human-centred leadership.
The growing adoption of AI spans virtually every sector. It offers unprecedented opportunities for coordination, analysis, and improved service experience, while driving concerns ranging from job displacement to skill atrophy, misinformation, discrimination or bias in government services, and political polarization.
It has become crucial for current and future leaders to understand AI; what it is, how it’s evolving, and how it can be harnessed responsibly for Public Interest across public and private sectors.
Demand for AI literacy is critical – up to 70% of workers across OECD countries could be exposed to GenAI in the near future (OECD, 2024). While training options are growing, they are often siloed between technical knowledge and business uses, and have a limited focus on the multi-disciplinary and human-centric approach needed to guide AI-related decision-making toward public good. This Accelerator Program is meant to address that.
There is nothing automatic about new technologies bringing widespread prosperity. Whether they do or not is an economic, social, and political choice.
We use the concept of Public-Interest to refer to the collective well-being of society.
We build on the current debate on AI in the Common Interest with the idea of ‘Public-Interest AI’, or Public AI, which, as explained in the 2025 Bertelsmann Stiftung white paper, “refers to AI systems developed with transparent governance, public accountability, open and equitable access to core components, such as data and models, and clearly defined public functions at their core.”
While our focus is not just on AI development, but also AI use, recognition by public AI movements of the need for alternative GenAI models and an understanding of the values guiding them, this framework provides a useful lens to think of AI in the public interest.
This program is intended to be both global in mindset and locally impactful. We are seeking to collaborate with Barcelona-based universities and training institutes to develop and pilot a dynamic, 10-week learner experience designed to prepare the next generation to shape the future of AI in a way that works for humans. It will combine:
We aim to have our first cohort in 2026. We will update and improve based on feedback, and could expand to other locations in the future.
Participants will gain the knowledge and skills needed to discern sound approaches to AI development, procuring, and use, allowing them to stimulate public innovation while fostering transparency and trust. Through the Public-AI approach, they will learn to leverage the benefits of AI in socially relevant sectors while mitigating risks.
Success will be measured by:
Learners based in Barcelona from different backgrounds who need baseline knowledge and skills in making AI-related decisions, and who are interested in understanding core AI concepts and how they can be applied to specific problems, sectors and contexts. We are planning to focus on the following audiences as a starting point:
We’re a collective of international professionals from different disciplines with a shared goal of harnessing AI for the public good and a belief that training future leaders is crucial to achieve this goal.
This initiative is supported by Sandbox Inc., a Toronto-based digital learning, media and technology agency working with public and nonprofit organizations around the world. Sandbox is proud to be part of Norrsken House Barcelona’s global community for tech and impact.
We’re building this initiative in Barcelona, a European hub for socially-driven, technology-driven initiatives, and are committed to contributing to the local, national and international ecosystem of organizations seeking to make technology work for people.
