Voice-recognition technology helps users interact with their computing devices. But Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer believes that if you recognize people’s voices in another sense—when they advocate for change in society—you can help them do something even more important. Cheyer is a software engineer, artificial intelligence expert, and entrepreneur. He’s also a founding member of the social campaign platform Change.org. “Our Society is based on freedom of speech and education and discussion,” Cheyer said at a recent Techonomy dinner in San Francisco. Change.org, he explained, is “giving a voice to people and amplifying the power of their voice to people all over the world.” The platform has 70 million active users who create or sign petitions that result, according to Cheyer, in “victories every day.” By recognizing problems and proposing solutions, users can advocate for change across a broad range of social, economic, and ecological issues. (One of the most famous Change.org campaigns, started by a 22-year-old Molly Katchpole, led Bank of America to drop some of its banking fees.)