The AI Journey of Civil Society in Türkiye: CDR’s New Report Published!
Based on the results of the surveys and interviews we conducted, we observed that CSOs in Türkiye have made significant progress in digital transformation. However, the full potential offered by AI integration has yet to be fully realized.
We are excited to announce our study aimed at guiding the digital transformation processes of CSOs in Türkiye and supporting their effective, ethical, and socially beneficial use of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI)!
Prepared by the Center for Democracy Research (CDR) with financial support from the U.S. Mission Türkiye and in partnership with the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), our report titled "Roadmap for Enhancing AI Capacity and Digital Transformation of Civil Society in Türkiye" has been published.
Highlights from Our Seminars in Istanbul and Ankara
On November 11-12, we brought together sector professionals and academics at seminars held in Istanbul and Ankara to share the findings of our report and emphasize the importance of AI for civil society organizations.
Alongside discussions on how AI can become a powerful tool for civil society, CDR AI Program Consultant Nesibe Kırış shared practical tips on how CSOs can integrate AI into their organizations. She explained how AI can support efficient data management, fundraising, and communication processes, highlighting the ease it brings to this transformation journey.
What Decisions Does AI Make About You?
CAIDP President Merve Hickok emphasized that AI is not just a technological tool but is also deeply connected to human rights and democratic values. She provided examples of how AI influences our daily lives, often without our awareness, by shaping decisions and utilizing our personal information as data. Hickok also underlined that when principles of fairness, transparency, and respect for individual rights are upheld, AI can bring significant transformation to data-driven decision-making processes.
CDR’s AI Journey: Meclis AI
CDR AI Program Lead Umut Baran Zorlu provided insights into CDR’s pioneering work in this field and introduced the "Meclis AI" system to the participants. Meclis AI is a digital parliamentary archive developed by CDR to support the monitoring, advocacy, and research activities of civil society organizations and researchers. Zorlu detailed how Meclis AI functions and how CDR has effectively integrated AI into its institutional practices.
Later, we conducted a workshop featuring three open-source AI-powered solutions to demonstrate the integration of AI with civil society organizations:
- KurumGPT: A CustomGPT tailored to speak your institution's language
- Transform your expense receipts into tables with OpenAI infrastructure
- Simultaneous translation with open-source large language models (LLMs)
You can view the source codes and usage guidelines for our projects through this link: github.com/cdrorgtr/cdr-ai
In our interactive seminars, we created a productive discussion environment with civil society representatives, exploring the opportunities AI presents, the challenges we face, and how this technology can serve the greater good. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all participants and everyone who contributed to making this event possible!
This project was funded by a grant from U.S. Department of State, U.S. Mission Türkiye. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.