While in the U.S. to meet with President Trump, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe spoke about North Korea’s announcement that it has stopped its nuclear weapons tests, declaring the news to be “forward motion” but warning that this does not guarantee peace in the region. “But what’s important is that this leads to complete, verifiable denuclearisation. I want to emphasize this.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was named our 2015 World Leader in Cybersecurity for his efforts to craft a cohesive Japanese cyber security strategy. You can listen to his acceptance speech here.
A Chinese tech company, Huawei, is developing artificial intelligence that they believe could read human emotions. The AI would be used in smartphone virtual assistants (think SIRI) and would upgrade them to be more emotionally interactive. Currently such technology can perform a number of helpful tasks, such as giving directions, weather updates, and even telling jokes. Huawei believes that emotional intelligence software can build upon this and make virtual assistants more responsive.
While the technology is still in development and will be used in Huawei’s own virtual assistant, it’s quite possible that you’ll be able to have a different kind of conversation with SIRI or Cortana in the near future.
The Pentagon has been forming new partnerships in Silicon Valley, but not everyone is on board. After it was revealed that Google was assisting the U.S. Defense Department in creating AI software for drone target recognition, in what was dubbed Project Maven, Google employees are speaking out. Thousands of them, including top engineers, have written an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, decrying the development of AI weapons. While Google has stated that Project Maven only works on defensive systems, not offensive ones, the signatories said: “Google should not be in the business of war.
AIWS is against the development of AI weapons. The risks of misuse, hacking, or loss of control pose too great of a threat to society. As such, such weapons should be banned and their development prohibited. We are calling on world leaders to adopt an international treaty to ban producing or using AI weapons.
Another country has announced its ambitions for AI leadership: The United Kingdom. Earlier this week, the House of Lords are calling for British leadership in the ethics of artificial intelligence.
“By establishing these principles, the UK can lead by example in the international community. We recommend that the Government convene a global summit of governments, academia and industry to establish international norms for the design, development, regulation and deployment of artificial intelligence.”
This Wednesday, April 25th, Boston Global Forum will host its annual BGF-G7 Summit Conference. This year’s issue is artificial intelligence, which BGF has been working on through Artificial Intelligence World Society, a collaboration between BGF, MDI, Club de Madrid, and top AI thinkers. We will be announcing the AIWS 7-Layer Model to Build Next Generation Democracy, which we believe to be a road map to a better AI future.
This year, we will present our first ever World Leader in AI World Society Award to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria for his contributions and forward thinking regarding AI policy. In addition to the Secretary-General, we are honored to collaborate with other leaders in AI this year. Walter Laangelar, a co-creator of the world’s first AI politician, will be speaking, as will MIT Professor Max Tegmark. We are also joined by the Honorable David Alward, Consul General of Canada, which will be hosting this year’s G7 Conference.
Past accomplishments have been the Ise-Shima Norms and the Taormina Plan, both of which provided recommendations and best practices for improving cyber security worldwide. The 7-Layer Model at the core of this year’s meeting will be given to the 2018 G7 Conference in La Malbaie, Quebec..
At the 2018 BGF-G7 Summit Conference, scheduled Wednesday, April 25, we will be introducing our AIWS 7-Layer Model to Build Next Generation Democracy. The model is a result of collaboration between our Artificial Intelligence World Society initiative and the Club de Madrid. We are working closely with a number of leaders and AI researchers to expand this model and its applications, whether it be through a formal treaty to ban AI weapons or ethical standards for AI development. We believe that AI can help leaders make better decisions and help protect democracies from threats like authoritarianism and fake news.
See the breakdown of the model:
Artificial Intelligence World Society (AIWS) Model
Layer 7 (Application Layer) Application and Services
Layer 6 (Public Service Layer) Public Services: Transportation, Healthcare, Education, Justice System
Boston Global Forum and the Michael Dukakis Institute have been working closely with the World Leadership Alliance – Club de Madrid (WLA-CdM), a group comprised of over 100 former heads of state. WLA-CdM has been a valuable partner in creating and building Artificial Intelligence World Society. In turn, we have partnered with them on Next Generation Democracy, their initiative to collaborate and discuss emerging threats to democracy and how we can protect it.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga, former President of Latvia and current President of Club de Madrid, will give an address at our upcoming BGF-G7 Summit Conference. She is a member of our Board of Thinkers, and was recognized for her dedication with a Certificate of Honor this January. We are grateful to work with President Vike-Freiberga and the Club de Madrid, and we look forward to building our new 7-Layer Model to Build Next Generation Democracy with them.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria travelled to Tokyo to meet with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe this week to discuss Japan’s economy. The OECD Economic Survey of Japan shows an improving economy and increased job growth. The Secretary-General said that “Abenomics [the popular nickname for Abe’s economic reforms] has delivered faster economic growth and job creation,” but that continued reform and growth are needed to counter Japan’s demographic and debt issues. At the same meeting, both leaders warned against protectionism and trade wars, instead stating the need for multilateral trade solutions. “Amid the spread of protectionism in the world, Japan shares with the OECD an understanding of the significance of the WTO, and we hope to reinforce the multilateral trade system,” said Abe.
At an AIWS Round Table in Japan earlier this month, top Hitachi engineer Dr. Kazuo Yano gave the keynote speech and called for a switch from standardization to experimentation. Dr. Yano is Chief of Hitachi’s R&D Group and has worked with AI systems for nearly 15 years.
As part of his speech, he showed an AI system learning to swing, much as a human would on a swing-set. While it starts off with haphazard motions, it quickly learns to swing faster and higher faster than a human could. AI “keep experimenting,” said Dr. Yano, while humans stop after a certain point. “That’s our problem,” he said, “we must endlessly experiment and learn.” Whereas many models currently favor standardization and rigid rules, he believes that what’s needed now is diversity and testing.
Instead of replacing labor, AI really threatens to replace rules, believes Dr. Yano. The key to successful AI policy and paradigms is an “outcome-oriented” approach instead of a “rule-driven” one.
