New Technologies and Tools for Community Development

Technological innovation and change can have tremendous impact on society and the way we live our daily lives. From a historical perspective, computers and their pervasive use in everyday products and services and the internet that provides us with greatly enhanced interpersonal communications and instant access to facts and knowledge will surely go down as among the most impactful. Sometimes technological change can be disruptive, requiring us to adapt to a “new normal” ( Acemoglu & Johnson, 2023 ). The new technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the potential to usher in a “new normal” across a broad spectrum of society, science, and the economy. Community development is no exception. While the fundamental tenets discussed throughout this book remain the same, AI-driven tools are already greatly enhancing both the outcomes and processes of community development.