AIWS seeks to create an AIWS Ecosystem that empowers citizens to create value for themselves, for others, and for society through the application of artificial intelligence, digital, blockchain, and data science technologies. It is a sharing ecosystem that rewards both the creators and users of these technologies, as well as an ecosystem that encourages everyone to innovate. It breaks down the hierarchies that traditionally have created unequal power relationships, paving the way to a sharing society. It recognizes the value of every citizen, as well as every citizen’s creative potential. It seeks to promote citizens’ economic wellbeing while also promoting ethical and community values. It aims for nothing less than the creation of a more trusting, prosperous, and compassionate world where people can live more fulfilling lives, materially and ethically.
The foundation of AIWS is the Social Contract for the Artificial Intelligence Age, which was developed by the Boston Global Forum in consultation with leading thinkers and practitioners. The Social Contract has been endorsed by organizations, including The World Leadership Alliance – Club de Madrid, which is the organization of former heads of state and heads of government of democratic countries.
As with earlier social contracts, the Social Contract for the Artificial Intelligence Age is rooted in the rights and interests of individuals, and what governments and other entities must do and are prohibited from doing to safeguard these rights and interests. The AI Social Contract and AIWS Ecosystem envision a world where everyone’s contribution is recognized and everyone has a right to education and ready access to information and technology, where no one is above the law, and where integrity, knowledge, creativity, and honesty are seen as key values in shaping policy and society. It envisions a world where governments adhere to basic values and are accountable and transparent.
The AIWS Value System
Remaking the world as a more humane, peaceful, and secure place rests on promoting the values that will foster that world. To that end, AIWS has created the AIWS Value System as a means of guiding and encouraging individuals to contribute to a changing world.
The AIWS Value System focuses on creative or innovative acts that foster a sharing society. Such acts can take many forms but would include:
– Creation or promotion of innovative ideas and organizations that offer meaningful paths for people’s political, social, economic, or moral development
– Creation or invention of technological advances that improve the lives of ordinary people
– Innovative approaches to art, culture, sport, or entertainment that improve the quality of life for ordinary people
– Voluntary acts – everything from charitable contributions to the granting of access to data – that enhance the lives of ordinary people
– Acts that promote the values inherent in the Social Contract for the Age of Artificial Intelligence
As these examples indicate, the AIWS Value System centers on action designed to help ordinary people and that contributes to the building of a sharing society.
Promoting the AIWS Value System
The AIWS Value System recognizes acts that often take place in the absence of supportive mechanisms. Yet, the creation of such mechanisms can incentivize and facilitate acts of this kind. To this end, AIWS is:
– creating the Global Enlightenment Education Program. This program will aim to inform ordinary citizens about the world in which they live, and how they can help improve it. The program will be dedicated to lifelong learning and the fostering of views that will enable ordinary citizens to be more innovative, tolerant, and participatory. The program will place special emphasis on reaching people in more remote areas who are typically left behind by technological change. The program will also emphasize the contribution that everyone, whatever their location or background, can make to the common good.
– promoting the development of legal systems that protect creativity and innovation and that respect the rights and interests of ordinary people.
– promoting creation of a cultural, social, economic, and political environment that encourages and rewards creativity and innovation; that respects the rights, interests, and abilities of ordinary people; that encourages popular participation in the creation of a more humane world; that rewards those individuals who make noteworthy creative and innovative contributions to the common good; and that recognizes those who, through ideas and action, make significant contributions to politics and society.
– promoting the development of technology systems that support creativity and innovation; that broaden participation by ordinary citizens; that contribute to the digital-age education of these citizens; that give ordinary citizens the means to directly create products and services; that foster meaningful work opportunities; that provide ordinary citizens with greater access to essential services, such as health care; and that suppress fraudulent and other harmful acts that injure ordinary citizens.