£3 Million Programme to Help Communities Shape AI Development

The National Lottery Community Fund has announced a new £3 million UK-wide programme to help communities shape how artificial intelligence develops and affects their lives.

The programme will be delivered in partnership with UK Community Foundations and the Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology (CAST).

It will support a pilot “AI Pulse Network” comprising 50 community organisations, alongside community-led projects to develop alternative AI tools and models shaped by local needs and lived experience.

The programme is being delivered in response to concerns about the emerging impacts of the use of AI on communities, including areas such as grading and screening algorithms, diagnostic tools, workplace monitoring, and other AI applications in education, healthcare etc.

Research shows that communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage and discrimination are at greater risk of being excluded from the benefits of AI or harmed by its use.

Projects could, for example, include supporting a charity that helps people with benefit claims identify incorrect algorithmic decisions and share warning signs across the network, enabling early action.

The first grants are expected to be awarded in autumn 2026.

Further details, including opening dates and the locations of the pilot projects, will be made available on the UK Community Foundations’ website.