The Parasol Cooperative
Protecting Lives Through Technology
Providing safe, secure, and easy to use digital products and services focused on domestic violence, gender-based violence, and human trafficking in our collective mission to protect lives.
We are a group of survivors, advocates and technologists who believe that everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy environment, devoid of violence and abuse.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2020. We do more than educate, we build survivor-centered technology products for individuals and victim services organizations with an aim to use technology to protect lives.
#Tech2Protect
What is Ruth?
Ruth is an AI-powered chat tool designed to combat tech-facilitated abuse and ensure online safety by providing trauma-informed support, safety planning, practical guidance, and contacts for further assistance.
She helps parents discuss online safety with their children, supports survivors, and helps all users in navigating technology confidently and safely.
What languages are supported by Ruth?
Ruth uses a large language model (LLM) and is able to support over 80 languages. However, there may be occasional challenges with fonts and formatting. If you notice these, please let us know by Submitting your Feedback.
How is Ruth different from other chatbots, like ChatGPTMany chatbots like Chat GPT are wonderful and provide a lot of value to end, but are not trained to be trauma informed. When we trained Ruth, we worked with advocates and survivors to address as many scenarios as possible. This means when Ruth detects a situation which requires a trauma informed response, it can handle it like a boss.
Ruth is trauma-informed, which means Ruth is designed to be sensitive, respectful, and supportive of individuals who have experienced trauma, ensuring safe and empathetic interactions. Having been trained on tech safety, security, and data privacy, Ruth specializes specifically in tech safety and security to provide expert advice in these areas.
Ruth is like your digital friend, with whom you can converse like you would over a chat message with any other friend. The conversational flow of Ruth is what helps her to understand your needs better and address your concerns effectively. Like most humans, she may not know everything and since she is still being trained there is a chance she may get things wrong, so we ask users to be mindful as they converse with her.
How is Ruth trained?
Ruth uses a large language model (LLM), but it does not send or store any data for training purposes. We manually train Ruth based on text, questions/answers, and partner program links to ensure the responses are appropriate for the end user and their conversations remain private. This approach also allows us to control what Ruth can and cannot answer, ensuring advice is targeted towards specific issues like tech-enabled abuse, technology use, and online and device safety and security topics.