Yarissa Matos-Soto, Founder of The Curioux, speaks with Humanitarian AI Today producer, Brent Phillips about the critical need to effectively assess artificial intelligence for outcomes and risks within the humanitarian sector. Drawing from her background as a biochemist, data specialist and startup founder, Yarissa explains how her organization, The Curioux, provides advisory services to help for-profit organizations structure their data strategy and pipelines to make data more actionable. Beyond her corporate work, she discusses her passion for environmental science, specifically her efforts to create open-source intelligence for biodiversity that aggregates hyper-local data. She also highlights her leadership role with the Association for Latin American Professionals (ALFA), where she works to formalize the local economy in Puerto Rico through networking and AI training initiatives.

The conversation explores the practical realities of deploying technology in challenging environments, emphasizing the "hidden costs" of connectivity in places like Puerto Rico and Ukraine. Yarissa shares insights on how local professionals navigate rolling blackouts and infrastructure hurdles to maintain digital livelihoods. Looking toward the future, she envisions AI becoming an invisible operating layer in daily life and encourages humanitarian workers to view AI as a tool for augmentation rather than a threat, urging them to find use cases that make practical sense for their missions.