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If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

  • 1.  If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 11 days ago

    The Maddies Fund team is trying to learn about AI, and more importantly how it could help the rate of adoption. We are curious at how you use AI at home or at work on a daily basis. If people have any other ideas please don't be shy to comment. 


    #DataandTechnology

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    Ian Duffield
    Intern
    Maddies Fund
    CA
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  • 2.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 11 days ago

    Hi Ian.  At my former shelter, we always struggled with getting bios written and added to the system for every animal. That likely contributed to delays in pet flow and adoption. At AnimalsFirst.com, we have partner organizations using AI to help them craft bios for their adoptable animals.  Let me know if you want to connect offline about how this feature and how it might help with marketing and pace of adoptions.



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    Chris Fitzgerald
    Chief Product Officer
    AnimalsFirst
    Rochester NY
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  • 3.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 10 days ago

    WAGS has been incorporating AI into several features over the past six months. One such application is assisting with social media posts through ChatAI, as well as leveraging RaskAi for video dubbing in Spanish and Vietnamese for our social media videos. We are also exploring the potential of using Loom in the near future. As a small organization, we acknowledge the importance of being both cautious and curious about the capabilities of AI and the benefits it can bring. We believe in pushing boundaries and are encouraged by the positive results we have seen with AI assistance so far. It's exciting to see how AI can enhance our operations and we look forward to further exploring its potential.



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    Michelle Russillo
    CEO
    WAGS PET ADOPTION
    Westminster CA
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  • 4.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 10 days ago

    Hey Ian. 

    At Doobert, we developed the world's first chatbot that answers questions based solely on YOUR website.  It's free, and once installed, it scans your pages and then can answer any question like "What are your hours?" or "How can I adopt a dog?" or "Can I be a foster?".  It's powered by OpenAI, and we've even got a premium version that can communicate in multiple languages, so if a shelter's community is multi-lingual, it's got you covered.  

    We're adding more logic so it can help people match with their perfect pet and so that shelters can upload external content like foster manuals or other information.  The possibilities are endless since it only knows what each organization tells it.  People can see it at our Doobert booth at the Expo.

    In my "day" job, I'm the VP of Digital at a large company, and my team is developing AI chatbots that consume volumes of data and make it easy to answer questions (think volumes of safety manuals or instructions).

    We're also developing prediction models that compare market sentiment (e.g., news and social media) with stock and commodity pricing to predict where prices are going. Further, we're using AI with augmented reality and machine learning to use real-time camera imagery to notice someone is not wearing the proper safety gear and then proactively alert someone.

    I'd be happy to chat with you or develop a working group of interested people who want to learn and brainstorm how we can revolutionize animal welfare.  



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    Chris Roy
    CEO, Doobert
    www.doobert.com
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  • 5.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 8 days ago

    Thanks Chris. I would love to join a working group for AI brainstorming. I'm wondering if Doobert could be helpful for those of us who do not have our own websites. We use Facebook/IG, and ShelterLuv to auto upload to PetFinder and Chewys to advertise our pets. We gets lots of email contacts through PetFinder and Chewys and it would be great if we could auto respond with actual answers instead of just a standard response. I think there are lots of us who don't have money or time to also maintain a separate website so it could be quite helpful. 



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    Renee Milner
    Nonprofit Board Member
    Animal Shelter Alliance of Rhea
    TN
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  • 6.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 7 days ago

    Hi Renee.  Absolutely.  Doobert has a free tier because we always believe in supporting those passionate about saving animals.  Our Case Management technology supports all kinds of unique animal rescue programs like rehoming, food bank programs, shelter diversion, and of course fostering.  And our ambassador pages are unique in that they allow fosters to post videos and photos Instagram-style so potential adopters have the latest pictures and information.  

    You can book a free demo with us here and we'd be happy to show you more: https://calendly.com/doobert-kimberly/demos?month=2024-05



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    Chris Roy
    CEO, Doobert
    www.doobert.com
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  • 7.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 6 days ago

    Hi, Chris, I created a website to recruit and educate new Fosters because our local shelter ( Memphis Animal Services) euthanizes dogs at a high rate, and has virtually zero community outreach. I would like to discuss your app and how it would help me ( and my site designer) reach a new audience. I'm testing the efficiency of Google Ad words right how, too. Here's my email: cmstack1@bellsouth.net.  My website: https://wefosterdogs.org/. Thank you! Catherine Pipe 



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    Catherine Pipe
    Owner
    We Foster Dogs Organization
    Cordova TN
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  • 8.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 6 days ago

    I'm intrigued about this system as Garfield's Rescue is a 100%  volunteer workforce relying solely upon donations, fundraisers and grants for our income. Having enough volunteers to provide rescue, spay/neuter/vaccination, foster to adopt services for the 459+felines we service every year is challenging. Must we get your App to benefit from your AI assistance? Is there a charge?  Intake this time a year during "kitten season" is challenging. 



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    Karen Peterson
    Vice president
    Garfield's Rescue, Inc.
    VA
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  • 9.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 6 days ago

    Hi Karen.  I'll do my best to answer your questions but please feel free to contact me directly at chris@doobert.com.

    • Our AI plugin is for WordPress sites.  It's free to download and use [waiting on it to be added to WordPress plugin directory so right now you just download the plugin from Doobert and upload it to your WordPress].
    • Again, it's free and there are no costs to use it since we love to support you.  If you want the advanced capabilities like multi-lingual or the ability to add documents with more content there's a premium charge to offset our costs to support.
    • The plugin is separate from the Doobert software called Case Management which helps you manage all sorts of unique programs.   You can learn more about Case Management and watch a webinar on it at Companion Case Management
      Doobert remove preview
      Companion Case Management
      COMPANION CASE MANAGEMENT Check Out The Newest Module! We're proud to add the newest piece of technology to the Doobert platform: Companion Case Management.How did the Companion Case Management module come to be?Through their work with Dallas Animal Services (DAS) and Spay Neuter Network (SNN), Dallas Pets Alive!
      View this on Doobert >
       


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    Chris Roy
    CEO, Doobert
    www.doobert.com
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  • 10.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 6 days ago

    Would be awesome learn more about how you're accomplishing the safety gear thing! Love that idea. I've done lots of LLM ai stuff but very minimal voice / video / image ai. I've been a software engineer for over 15 years outside of my role in the rescue. Always trying to tie in some cool stuff that can make our lives easier.  We're workin on something similar at PawsFurRecovery.org for a chat bot, text bot and email auto responders. Also trying to get AI to do our adoption pre-assessments like checking home ownership, background checks, vet records, etc. maybe implementing Air.AI to do some automated phone calling. So much potential, would love to geek out with you on what you're working on!

    Robby@PawsFurRecovery.org



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    Robert Nicklin
    President
    Paws Fur Recovery
    FL
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  • 11.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 10 days ago

    AI to generate fast pet bios has been helpful.

    Beyond that, it would be great to see if AI-driven predictive analytics can forecast adoption trends, identify potential barriers to adoption, and develop targeted strategies to address them. 



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    Travis Brady
    COO
    SPCA Westchester
    NY
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  • 12.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 10 days ago

    AI has been super useful for us. As a small volunteer-run rescue, we struggle to find time around our jobs to do all the little things to promote animals for adoption. 

    With chatGPT, I have cute, interesting, and unique bios written instantly. I even posted one yesterday that was written as a rap to highlight a litter of kittens named after rappers! 

    I also have been using the AI photo editing feature on Instagram to stage adoption photoshoots. Since I do not have access to all of our animals in foster homes and do not have time to set up photoshoots (and since some of the foster photos are not great), all I need is a clear photo of the cat or dog and I can add whatever background I like. I love playing it up around holidays and making it festive. 



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    Amanda Gray
    Grants and fundraising manager
    Operation Liberation
    FL
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  • 13.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 9 days ago

    This is a fantastic thread! thank you for asking - just here to learn more :) 



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    Stella Plit
    President
    Rescue City
    NY
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  • 14.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 8 days ago

    We use AI to draft bios, facebook posts, newsletter stories, thank you notes for special gifts, donation request letters, press releases, etc. I say draft because you can't just take what AI creates and use it without editing. Sometimes, it's just a place to start, but usually it only takes a few minutes to edit and have a good product. We've also used Photoroom to add backgrounds and make better pictures. 



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    Renee Milner
    Nonprofit Board Member
    Animal Shelter Alliance of Rhea
    TN
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  • 15.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 5 days ago

    I primarily use AI to help write adoption bios - it's great, for example, when you are posting a bunch of hyper puppies and want to have their bios different from one another. I somewhat use Pet Smart's bio writer AI, but it usually adds a fake "background story" for the pet and I honestly really dislike that. I usually only get a sentence or two from it to start me out.  But here's the link if someone wants to try it:  https://rescuewriter.ai/ 

    I also use ChatGPT to help me come up with names for events/promos./etc, catchy taglines, closing statements, and so on. It can be nice when you feel burned out on that kind of stuff! For example, I try to plan a monthly "Dine to Donate" event for us and it can get repetitive trying to make cute promos for each. 



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    Erin Dams
    Community Relations Coordinator
    Roanoke Valley SPCA
    Roanoke VA
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  • 16.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 5 days ago

    We also use it for writing bios for the dogs. In addition, we use it to write emails to Appeal to different groups Such as students or seniors. We are starting a Monthly update for our. Volunteers and are using it to write that. Is easy to make a list of new things and ask it to write the update asking the prompt to Enthusiastic, funny or serious as needed. We find a ways to use it all the time.



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    [Sharon] [Esempio]
    [Manager]
    [Paws Fur Recovery]
    [www.pawsfurrecovery.org]
    [Indiantown] , [FL
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  • 17.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 5 days ago

    We use AI, like most everyone here, to write bios  However, sometimes we use it when we are writing grants too.  We are a very small volunteer run rescue and writing skills aren't our strong suit.  Sometimes there is a paragraph that just sounds clunky, so getting the paragraph paraphrased helps make it more articulate.



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    Amber Smith
    Office Manager
    Caring Hearts 4 Paws
    WA
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  • 18.  RE: If you use AI at all. How do you use it?

    Posted 4 days ago

    As a long-time software developer, I am extremely excited about AI and the opportunities it provides to build solutions for everyday problems.   

    I recently implemented the OpenAI Chat GPT-4 API into the AnimalsFirst software.  The API allows staff to create animal bios with a simple click of a button. I built the algorithm to be customizable, so you can control and train the AI response on any animal attribute you choose such as species, sex, color, breed, altered, and more, as well as behavior attributes like housetrained, lived with kids, lived with cats, etc.  

    I am currently working on expanding the AI Bio tool and our Rehoming module to integrate with Facebook and Google for creating targeted animal posts. The goal is to improve the response rate and the ability to make quality matches through adoption and supported self-rehoming. 

    My tech team has been working on using AI in our Foster module to help match foster parents with animals and integrating our email tools with OpenAI to create AI-generated email campaigns for hard-to-adopt animals, requests for fosters, or to help with donation solicitations.  

    One solution we are researching that I am really excited about is using AI for pet reunification and helping field service officers get animals home faster.   

    An idea suggested by a shelter partner involves using AI in conjunction with intake data and requests for assistance to predict locations for future community support efforts.

    Another use of AI and machine learning is to assist with reviewing and flagging adoption and foster applications, taking some of the workload off staff and volunteers who currently review applications manually.  

    Also, if you have not yet heard, OpenAI just announced on Tuesday (5/13) the launch of their new GPT-4o API. This new version has better support for non-English languages and was designed to provide an "AI Assistant" to respond to user queries. I believe this could benefit shelters and rescues by providing AI answers to common questions from adopters and fosters. I just started investigating this new version today and I am eager to see what it can do.  

    My objective at AnimalsFirst is is to create software solutions to help animal shelters and rescues be more productive so I welcome everyone's ideas and suggestions on features I can build.



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    Gerald Owens
    CEO
    Animals First
    New York City NY
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