There’s nothing quite like a fresh round of billionaire attention to liven up the social services sector. The latest crusade comes with a glossy name (NextLadder Ventures), a billion-dollar price tag, and the unmistakable stench of Bill Gates’ philanthropic industrial complex.
This time, it’s not vaccines or ed-tech or trying to block out the sun. It’s artificial intelligence embedded in the public sector, starting with parole officers and social workers. What America’s underfunded frontline workers desperately need, according to the people who have never set foot in a public housing office, is Bill Gates-backed AI.
The new plan is to slather AI on top of the mess and call it transformation. Over the next fifteen years, the Gates Foundation, the Ballmer Group, hedge fund magnate John Overdeck, and the Valhalla Foundation will funnel $1 billion into “impact-oriented” nonprofits and companies.
The official purpose? Helping service workers assist the poor more efficiently. The unofficial one? Adding another gold star to Gates’s ledger of technocratic interventions.
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