Guidelines

Our mission is to develop a community of global, responsible, and ethically conscious citizens around the world who can work together to wield AI technology for good. We envision a world where people can act as creative actors, capable of creating thoughtful solutions to sizable problems affecting humanity.

Values:

We’re excited to have you be a part of our dynamic community dedicated to all things AI. To ensure a positive and enriching experience for everyone, we’ve put together some guidelines that we kindly ask all members to follow:

1. MUTUAL RESPECT:
   Our goal is to provide a community where people can flourish and feel respected, valued and included. We strive to create and maintain a community that is based on trust and where there is no fear, discrimination, oppression or exploitation.
   
   We will not tolerate discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, racial identity, religion or disability, sexual or psychological harassment or any form of violence in the community, and we will take prompt and appropriate action in the event of a complaint or knowledge of a violation of our policy.
   
   
2. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION:
   Engagements with other people should be treated with a high degree of respect and delight. Every interaction is an opportunity to share world views, counsel, and positive reinforcement. Be sure to savor each moment and take notes on details of importance, as well as action items to follow up on.
   
   A key pillar to upkeep a healthy community involves nurturing relationships with your peers and ensuring that your word is your bond. By being true to your word, you will gain a positive reputation and multiply opportunities before you.
   
   
3. HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN:
   Work crafted in and on the community should deeply involve participation from people. Work done in absence is not grounded in reality, nor does it pay respect to the freedom of creativity, expression, and choice that diverse humans bring to the table.
   
   When developing projects, ideas, presentations, or any creative work that you would like to share with people, it helps to be firm in your objective, but open to feedback from your peers. Particular attention needs to be paid to analyze the content of feedback, rather than blindly implementing advice.
   
   
4. CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS:
   We must empower individuals to see themselves as free creative agents capable of problem solving, critical thinking, and dialogue so that they can architect their life to become what they want it to become.
   
   What better place to begin than with ourselves and peers? Be sure to remind your peers of the natural strengths and characteristics they don when engaging in private discussions with other members. It helps to foster an environment where people feel valued, welcome, and open to engaging in free dialogue.
   
   
5. PROPENSITY TOWARDS SMART ACTION:
   Though people should work hard to materialize the objectives they have, they should also set their sights on doing the due diligence of working smart, with constraints to expenditures of resources and collaboration with other like-minded people.
   
   After all, working hard is an admirable characteristic of people making an impact in the world, but it is only when you combine hard work with leverage that you enable smart work. Leverage comes with aligning with others to tackle bigger problems, working on smaller scoped problems to build confidence and credibility, as well as ensuring you work within the bounds of a clear hypothesis.
   
   
6. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
   Our actions have far reaching consequences in our internal and external world. We should strive to do good in our personal life, while consciously doing good in the world where possible.
   
   In the case of the community, you will find that we all have different situations, advantages, and disadvantages to work within. If you are able and willing to share your time, energy, and expertise with someone to foster their growth and personal development, consider it a boon to your growth. At some point or another, your kindness will be rewarded.
   
   
7. TEACH HOW TO FISH:
   Do not rob people of their ability to solve their problems, rather arm them with the skills to structure the right questions, as well as plan, design, articulate, and execute against a working hypothesis. People need to be witnessed and reminded of their strengths, so that they can fulfill their potential and build autonomy.
   
   If you encounter a person who may have a tendency to build a dependency on you or other people, be sure to enforce healthy boundaries and expectations on future engagements. We are here to grow together, by challenging ourselves and supporting others. We are not here to impair a peer’s ability to think, reason, or articulate their views. People need to own their journey.
   

*** REMEMBER:
We’re all here to learn, grow, and celebrate our shared passion for artificial intelligence. Let’s work together to make SWARM a vibrant and enriching space for everyone.