Reid Hoffman likes to say, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Usually, he’s referring to tech companies like the ones he has founded (LinkedIn), helped lead (PayPal), or advised (Microsoft) during his storied career. But he could also be talking about his own clout in the business world and his efforts to finance initiatives that aim to improve the world through civic action, education, and technology.

He discussed some of those projects, including two organizations developing artificial intelligence to benefit society and an annual award that honors “responsible disobedience,” in a conversation with MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito at the EmTech MIT 2017 conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Wednesday.