RAK = random acts of kindness. Many of us have practised this in different ways over the years. For me, one of the most pivotal influences in my life has been kindness, something that was deeply embedded in my upbringing from a young age.
When I entered the Mr South Africa competition, one of the key challenges we were required to complete as contestants was a 30-day Random Acts of Kindness (#RAK) challenge. I enjoyed it so much that I extended it beyond the requirement and continued for over 100 days. I genuinely believe that this challenge not only defined my personal journey, but was also one of the main reasons I went on to win Mr South Africa in 2017.
As a result of this altruistic endeavour, almost a decade ago, I wrote and published a book in 2017 titled HEART (more here). For many people, RAK is simply a one-off action or a temporary phase. For others, however, they become a way of life, a lifestyle… It is about being deliberately and purposefully kind to others, without expecting anything in return.
In 2017, we partnered up with an International organisation (Kindness.org) to take part in a worldwide initiative to spread kindness through the Wall of Kindness. This wall was created by a group of us in Century City, Cape Town.
A close friend of ours, Noel Adams, taught me a lot about Humanitarianism. Interestingly, he was born on World Kindness Day (13 November) :) Unfortunately, he passed away in September 2021 and we still feel his loss till this day. The above picture (he is located in the front - middle) showcases the hamper project we worked on in Manenberg (feeding 123 families), in partnership with The Noakes Foundation, Pick n Pay, Spice Mecca and Homey Impact. More here.
Regardless of the stage of life we are in (whether we are facing challenges or experiencing positive circumstances), we continue to practise kindness and help others in whatever way we can. However, as we move increasingly towards an AI-driven world, we need to start thinking about kindness differently.
The reality is that we now live in a world that is optimised for efficiency.
Every tap, every scroll, every metric – is designed to move faster, react quicker and produce more.
But somewhere along the way, we’ve started outsourcing not just our decisions… but our decency.
Today, I wanted to write about something radical.
What if we could design kindness into our systems - not as a sentiment, but as a signal?
What if kindness itself could be an algorithm?
What are Algorithms REALLY?
Algorithms are not mysterious. They’re simply a set of rules that tell a system how to behave.
But here’s the problem:
Our algorithms have learned our biases, absorbed our impatience and mirrored our indifference.
They’re optimised for clicks, not compassion.
For engagement, not empathy.
We say AI is neutral. But neutrality without ethics is just indifference at scale.
So, if we can train an algorithm to predict what we’ll buy, why can’t we train one to protect what we value?
Why can’t empathy be encoded?
So, if we look at Kindness as Data…
Kindness isn’t abstract. It’s observable, measurable and teachable.
Every act of listening, every pause before we respond, every moment we choose empathy over ego - these are signals.
In neuroscience, kindness releases oxytocin - the trust molecule.
In organisational psychology, it increases productivity and retention.
In sports science, it improves team coherence and performance.
In short: KINDNESS WORKS.
But our systems rarely reward it.
Social media rewards outrage.
Workplace KPIs reward outputs.
Education rewards recall, not reflection.
So, what if the next era of design rewarded decency?
What if the metric of success wasn’t just engagement… but enrichment?
The key question is: how to we design for Empathy?
Designing kindness into an algorithm isn’t sentimental - it’s structural.
It means embedding compassion into the architecture of interaction.
Just imagine:
An AI that moderates tone before content, prompting you to pause before you post.
A social platform that rewards constructive dialogue, not divisive trends.
A healthcare chatbot that recognises distress in a patient’s language and responds with reassurance, not just information.
That’s not science fiction. It’s a design choice…
We already code for security.
We already code for accuracy.
It’s time we code for humanity.
This brings us to the Human Parallel…
If kindness is an algorithm, then we are the first processors.
Every thought we share, every conversation we initiate, every critique we deliver - runs through the code of our own intent.
The question is: what are we optimising for?
Athletes optimise for performance.
Academics optimise for discovery.
Technologists optimise for efficiency.
But the future will belong to those who optimise for compassion.
Because kindness isn’t weakness.
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It’s a sophisticated form of intelligence - one that balances emotion with reason.
And maybe that’s what AI is really teaching us:
That the most advanced intelligence is not artificial.
It’s authentic.
This is where the Four A’s meet again:
AI asks us what we can automate.
Academia asks us what we can understand.
Athletes show us what we can endure.
But Altruism reminds us why we should.
Kindness sits at that cornerstone - a unifying algorithm that scales across all four of these A’s.
It turns intelligence into impact and data into dignity.
So, in Closing…
The next decade, algorithms will shape how we live.
But we still choose what they value.
So maybe the real innovation isn’t in creating smarter machines -
but in creating kinder systems.
Because the most powerful algorithm isn’t written in code.
It’s written in conduct…
And the next time you scroll, reply or build - remember:
You are already running one.
Kindness is an algorithm.
Run it daily!
Until next time ;)
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