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Last week, the International Rescue Committee published an article titled “I’m a Humanitarian Leader Who’s All In on AI. Here’s Why,” written by its Senior Vice President and Chief Research and Innovation Officer, Jeannie Annan.

Annan argues that humanitarian organizations have a moral obligation to become some of its most ambitious users, reasoning that the decision not to explore technologies that could help organizations reach more people, more effectively, is itself an ethical choice—with potentially devastating consequences.

So what does responsible innovation look like when the stakes are literally life and death? How do we balance the risks of deploying imperfect technologies against the risks of failing to deploy them? And what might the technology industry learn from humanitarian organizations that have spent decades making consequential decisions under conditions of uncertainty, scarcity, and profound human vulnerability?

Jeannie Annan is Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, AI, and People at the International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, working in around 40 countries. She co-founded and leads the Airbel Impact Lab, IRC’s research and innovation engine, where researchers, designers and technologists build, adapt and test solutions for people caught in conflict and disaster, from getting vaccines to children to predicting climate disasters and responding before they strike. She also leads IRC’s AI strategy, and recently launched Airbel Ventures, a first-of-its-kind humanitarian impact investing fund. Jeannie began her career running programs in Kosovo, northern Uganda and South Sudan. She holds a PhD in psychology. Her research on preventing violence against women and children has been published in leading academic journals and her work on AI in humanitarian response has been featured in Fast Company and Fortune.

This episode was produced by Jack Lucas Chang.