About
Applied AI, from inside the problems it solves.
RealWorldAI.ai is the applied-AI publication and case-study hub for the work coming out of the Good Samaritan Institute (GoodSam.ai) and Good Combinator (GoodCombinator.ai) — a network building AI for the public sector, the environment, and mission-driven institutions.
It is run by Doug Liles, founder and CEO of the Good Samaritan Institute and an elected Special District Commissioner in South Walton County, Florida (elected 2020). The work here isn't theoretical: it's built from inside the roles it serves — a commissioner's seat, a coastal watershed, a technology-transfer pipeline — where every decision can be challenged in public and "just trust the model" is a non-starter.
One thesis runs through all of it: AI should be auditable, explainable, and useful to the people it claims to serve. A human makes the consequential call. Every recommendation can show its reasoning. Every system can be inspected after the fact — not just trusted in the moment. That is the difference between a demo and something a county, a district, or a university can actually adopt.
Method
How we build.
Start in the real setting.
We design from the actual constraints — parcel maps, open-meeting rules, permit chapters, grant criteria — not a generic business template.
Keep a human on the consequential call.
AI handles translation, triage, and the heavy first pass. People make the decisions they can be held accountable for. The human-in-the-loop gate is the point, not an afterthought.
Make every recommendation explainable.
If a non-technical board member or a member of the public can't follow the reasoning, it isn't finished.
Leave an auditable trail.
Actions and inputs are reviewable after the fact, because public and grant dollars demand it.
Ship, then publish honestly.
We write up what worked and what was hard — including what we deliberately left for a human to decide.
Doug Liles
Founder & CEO, Good Samaritan Institute · Special District Commissioner, South Walton County, FL (elected 2020)
To confirm before launch: confirm: headshot image
Most AI looks great on stage and breaks the moment it meets a real deadline. This is what shipped anyway.