Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, and Elena Yunusov, founder of the Human Feedback Foundation, sees this moment as an opportunity to guide AI development in a direction that benefits everyone.
“Our society is undergoing a massive and rapid technological change,” Elena explains. “The race to adopt, benefit from, and shape the technology is on, as AI has emerged to become a new paradigm for building modern software.” She recognized early on that AI needs to be more than just a technological advancement—it needs to be built with human feedback, input, and values at its core.
This belief led to the creation of the Human Feedback Foundation, a nonprofit focused on integrating human values into AI systems to ensure better AI performance, safety, and governance. “It’s critical to build public input into AI models and accelerate the development of resilient and better-aligned AI systems—for the breakthroughs in technology to benefit society,” she says.
Elena has founded the Human Feedback Foundation, now a Linux Foundation AI & Data non-profit after gaining a deeper understanding of AI at Borealis AI, RBC’s Institute for AI Research. Elena has made it her mission to ensure that AI reflects human values and societal input.
Elena’s work goes beyond technological leadership. She is deeply committed to building communities around AI. One of the foundation’s flagship initiatives is AI Tinkerers, a popular meetup series where engineers and AI enthusiasts showcase their work and discuss the decisions that shape their projects. Supported by major tech companies like Shopify and Accenture, AI Tinkerers has grown into the largest AI meetup in Canada, fostering a community of over 1,000 AI builders and entrepreneurs, as part of the Global AI Tinkerers network.
But Elena’s vision isn’t limited to the tech world. She is passionate about democratizing access to AI research and education, particularly for underrepresented groups. “We aim to create more pathways to participation through education, opportunities to contribute to active open-source projects, community building, and partnerships,” she says. Through collaborations with the University of Toronto, and community organizations like Women in AI & Robotics and Womxn in Data Science, Elena is working to address gender bias and create opportunities for students, women and other marginalized groups to engage with AI.
Elena also highlights the importance of including the social impact sector in the AI conversation. “If, as a society, we commercialize and adopt AI without bringing the non-profit sector along, we will have failed to ensure that all Canadians benefit from the rise of new AI technologies,” she warns. Non-profit organizations play a vital role in addressing society’s toughest challenges, and Elena believes that building capacity for these organizations to adopt AI will help amplify their missions.
To this end, the Human Feedback Foundation is working to provide strategic AI education for nonprofits, including training tailored to nonprofit boards on AI Governance, – crucial to ensuring that social impact organizations like Canadian Cancer Society and others that the Human Feedback Foundation works with can continue to fulfill their essential missions in an increasingly AI-driven world.
As she looks to the future, Elena emphasizes the importance of community involvement in shaping AI.
“Machines need to learn from humanity’s diverse experiences and perspectives,” she says. “As AI gets smarter, we all need to work together to steer AI in the most positive direction possible to increase the probability of a great future.”
Elena’s message is clear: AI should be built not just by technologists, but by communities. And for those with the resources and influence to shape that future, now is the time to act.
Visit Human Feedback Foundation to learn more and discover how you can make an impact today.
