VINCE

AI-assisted information search to support effective NGO communications

Young people sitting on outdoor stairs watching their phones.

Sateenkaari Koto ry organized an event in Turku for non-profit organisations supporting migrant integration,with a primary objective to understand how different services and the service providers show up in AI-assisted information searches.

Starting a new life in a new country requires a lot of information and services to support integration. Where to look for housing or jobs, how to get the children to school or daycare, where to go for a doctor´s appointment and so on. Finding all the necessary information is not easy when you don´t know the language, the system and the services available. In addition to various authorities, local multicultural associations, non-profit NGOs, are an important part of the integration service network by for example supporting learning the language and offering community spaces. 

Searching for information – Understanding who and how

In the event participants created fictional stakeholder profiles and conducted information searches about the organizations and their services using ChatGPT. During the event day, representatives from six different organizations tested how their services appeared in ChatGPT’s information retrieval.

Multicultural associations are an important part of the service network aimed at migrants. They support, for example, Finnish language learning and offer community spaces where people can meet others through meaningful and inclusive activities.

Fictional stakeholder profiles were created for both external and internal stakeholders.  The organization representative selected a stakeholder group and considered what kind of keywords and language that stakeholder might use when searching for information. The information search involved questions where the person did not know the organization beforehand, as well as questions where the organization was already familiar to the person searching for information.

With these profiles and questions, the goal was to get as close as possible to the customer experience – both in successful information retrieval and in its challenges – when using AI to find services that support migrant integration.

In the responses given by ChatGPT, services provided by large actors, such as municipalities and county wellbeing services, dominated. Small associations and their services rarely appeared in search results unless the question to ChatGPT included keywords related to the organization’s name. This is particularly problematic for recently arrived migrants , who may not be familiar with services supporting integration or with the organizations providing them. Information retrieval can also be challenging if one doesn’t use specifically profiled terms in AI searches, such as association, nonprofit work, volunteering, multiculturalism, or integration.

Group of people sitting in a circle, some of them with raised hands.

NGOs vital role in migrant integration

However, multicultural associations are an important part of the service network aimed at migrants. They support, for example, Finnish language learning and offer community spaces where people can meet others through meaningful and inclusive activities. Preventing loneliness and finding one’s own community in the new home country are also key to overall well-being on the path to integration. However, finding services can be very challenging.

It is important that organizations ensure their websites are accessible to AI.

Importance of accurate and up-to-date information

The VINCE application’s AI is designed to be connected to reliable websites. In this way, VINCE doesn’t search for information across the vast internet but from carefully curated sources. This provides an opportunity to improve the accessibility of services provided by small third-sector actors in AI-assisted information searches.

The VINCE application can offer migrants a platform where they can find information about the services with the help of AI-assisted information searching. A carefully curated selection of websites can provide up-to-date information about both municipal and NGO services that support integration and help direct migrants more quickly to the services they need. Therefore, it is crucially important that organizations ensure their websites are accessible to AI.

Writer: Katja Ollikainen, project coordinator, Sateenkaarikoto ry

Photos: Adobe Stock