A Pennsylvania startup uses AI to turn doomscrolling into civic action

Scroll through the news. Feel helpless. Repeat. 

Pennsylvania-based startup Modern Action thinks it can break that cycle by giving people a way to speak up on topics they care about with just a few clicks.   

The nonprofit platform lets users find active legislation related to recent news and contact their representatives directly with an AI-written message tailored to their perspective. Duquesne University alum Colum O’Brien first developed the app in the wake of the George Floyd protests. But recently, he revamped it after learning how a personal touch can make the difference between a politician taking action versus deleting a constituent’s concerns.

“We chatted with a lot of legislative staffers, a lot of people in policy,” O’Brien told Technical.ly. “We figured out the formula of what makes an effective letter, what tends to move the needle when it comes to contacting elected officials, and we’ve tried to construct a product around that.” 

Using OpenAI’s API, Modern Action shows users a plain-language summary of a bill and explains how it could affect them through related news articles, according to O’Brien. Users can then generate a personalized message — complete with a call to action — and send it to each of their elected representatives.

“We feel there is such a disconnect in terms of lowercase-d democratic action,” O’Brien said. “We are responding to an urgent gap right now, and that’s truly our focus.” 

With O’Brien based in Philly and the nonprofit’s board advisor Samir Lakhani in Pittsburgh, Modern Action is currently looking to fundraise from the local philanthropic community to fuel development.

While monetization might be an option in the future, O’Brien said, he has no plans to sell user data. 

“Our priority is not to make money on people’s data,” he said. 

The free platform currently has about 30 users, but O’Brien said he’s hoping to increase that number with a slate of upcoming updates, including a Chrome extension that would bring Modern Action’s features to news articles found on social media or the web. 

Doomscrolling democracy 

Both O’Brien and Lakhani see a problem with modern civic life — a lack of action. 

Lakhani is the founder of Eco-Soap Bank, a nonprofit launched in 2014 that employs women across Africa and Asia to recycle soap scraps into new bars. Eco-Soap Bank has now helped distribute soap to people in more than 40 countries. 

From that venture, he’s learned grassroots action can take one of three forms: protest, boycott or petitioning an elected representative, he said. Working with Modern Action presented an opportunity to make that third tenet easier, according to Lakhani. 

“I believe there is a latent, quiet, kinetic energy that has yet to be tapped into,” Lakhani said. “People don’t yet know how to take action.” 

Since O’Brien first came up with the idea for the platform, he’s only observed Americans’ attention become more fragmented. 2026 has already brought major news stories, like the release of the Epstein files and the ICE shootings of two US citizens, which are dividing the public’s attention, he said.

The result can be civic paralysis. 

“We’re smothered with information,” O’Brien said. “There’s an abundance of awareness, an abundance of outrage and an abundance of ‘what do I do?’”  

Offering a low-lift way to get involved helps cut through the noise and makes it easier for people to follow through on their goal of speaking up, O’Brien said. Hopefully, in a way that pushes legislators to act, not just spread awareness. 

“What if we made it easy to make a real impactful change,” he said, “instead of posting a black square on Instagram.”