by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | News
Governor Dukakis’s Preface reminds us that anniversaries matter most when they become moments of renewal—when a nation looks honestly at its challenges and chooses, again, the values that first gave it meaning. The pages that follow build on that call. They introduce America at 250: A Beacon for the AI Age as both a blueprint and a story: a blueprint for how the United States can modernize democratic governance and lead responsibly in the age of artificial intelligence, and a story of how these ideas were formed through real initiatives, debates, and partnerships—bringing together American public leadership with distinguished scholars and global allies who believe that AI must be guided by transparency, accountability, and human dignity.
The Introduction begins where the Preface leaves us: with the conviction that America’s greatest strength is not only what it invents, but what it chooses to stand for—and what it is willing to build, with others, for the common good. For America has never been only for Americans or only of America; at its best, it is also for the world and, in a profound sense, of the world—a nation shaped by the hopes, talents, and moral imagination of people who came to it, learned from it, challenged it, and helped renew it.
That spirit lives in the story behind this book. It includes the journey of a Vietnamese public leader who left a distinguished position as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of VietNamNet to come to Harvard University as a research scholar and advisor, and then founded the Boston Global Forum—not merely to observe America’s democratic experiment, but to contribute to it. From that vantage point, and in partnership with Governor Dukakis and many leading scholars and public servants, the authors seek to offer a model worthy of the Semiquincentennial: a practical, hopeful blueprint for U.S. leadership in the AI Age—one that can be welcomed at home and shared with the world.
by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Taiwan’s cyber ambassador Audrey Tang participating in an online session at Asahi World Forum 2025 (Shingo Kuzutani)
Audrey Tang, the 2025 World Leader in AIWS Award Recipient, who served as Taiwan’s inaugural minister of digital affairs, outlined a road map for rebuilding democracy through digital technology at the Asahi World Forum 2025 held in October.
Speaking in a session titled “Social Media and the New Divide: Bridging Gaps Through ‘Technology for Good,’” Tang introduced initiatives in Taiwan, including online discussions that led to legal revisions when ride-hailing giant Uber entered the market.
She stressed the importance of a shared foundation where people with differing views can seek a common ground.
Tang said social media, which are designed to maximize user engagement by catering to individual interests, have weakened horizontal, peer-to-peer connections within society.
“The way to train ‘civic care’ into AI agents, I believe, is the great challenge that is facing all of us,” she said.
Tang, who is Taiwan’s cyber ambassador, said she uses business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn most frequently, although she also posts on other platforms, such as X and Instagram.
She also shared personal habits to avoid smartphone addiction, such as setting the screen to black and white and hiding “recommended” posts generated by artificial intelligence.
Tang collaborates with Japanese politicians, including exchanging views with Upper House member Takahiro Anno, leader of the Team Mirai party.
“Japan maybe is one of the best places to try digital democracy,” she said. “People are very ready to engage AI as a facilitator.”
By DAISUKE IGARASHI/ Senior Staff Writer
https://www.asahi.com/eco/awf/en/archive/1028_1200.html
by Editor BGF | Feb 1, 2026 | News, Shaping Futures
As deepfakes become cheaper, faster, and more convincing, the familiar playbook—better detection, stricter platform rules, tougher laws—looks increasingly insufficient. A Financial Times–style argument gaining traction is that deepfakes are ultimately a democratic governance problem, not only a technical one.
The central proposition is simple: ask citizens what trade-offs they want. Through citizen assemblies, public consultations, and transparent rulemaking, democracies can define what counts as harmful manipulation, what must be labeled, which uses are legitimate (satire, art, accessibility), and what penalties apply for fraud, election interference, or non-consensual deepfake abuse. This approach also builds legitimacy for hard choices—such as watermarking standards, identity verification in high-risk contexts, fast-track takedowns during elections, and liability rules that apply across platforms.
This citizen-first approach echoes the “democracy-as-technology” mindset advanced by Audrey Tang (the 2025 World Leader in AIWS Award recipient): legitimacy comes from participation, transparency, and accountable public systems—not just from better algorithms. In practice, that means pairing technical defenses (provenance, labeling, detection) with durable civic infrastructure that helps society decide what to protect, what to allow, and who is responsible when synthetic media causes harm.
by Editor BGF | Feb 1, 2026 | News
The AIWS Angel Statue v1.0 — “The Light of Evidence” is a contemporary symbol of compassionate intelligence serving humanity. Created for the AIWS Health Center space, it communicates a clear message: in the age of artificial intelligence, guidance must be human-centered, evidence-based, and safety-bounded—supporting clinical authority and informed choice while protecting dignity and trust.
The sculpture presents a calm, universal human silhouette rising within a vertical beam of light. Two elegant arc panels—shaped like protective parentheses—surround the figure, expressing the guardrails that make advanced intelligence worthy of public confidence: ethics, transparency, responsibility, and accountability. The form is intentionally non-sectarian and inclusive, welcoming people of every culture, faith, and background.
Crafted in satin-finished stainless steel with frosted glass elements, the statue glows softly—evoking reassurance rather than spectacle. Its illumination symbolizes “the light of evidence”: the best available knowledge made visible, accessible, and actionable, without coercion. In this design, the “Angel” is not a mythic figure, but a modern commitment—an emblem of how AI should behave in healthcare: listening carefully, clarifying uncertainty, elevating verified knowledge, and supporting wise human decisions while honoring consent, privacy, and professional judgment.
The statue stands for the mission of AIWS Angel: to help people navigate complexity with calm, clarity, and safety—especially when decisions affect life and wellbeing. It invites every visitor to remember that true progress is not measured only by technological power, but by how faithfully we protect life, build trust, and advance peace through responsible innovation.
At the base, the inscription may read:
“AIWS ANGEL — Evidence. Safety. Humanity.”
— Presented by Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society Family.
by Editor BGF | Feb 1, 2026 | Papers & Reports, News, Publications
Boston Global Forum – AI World Society Family
February 2026
We, the Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society Family, stand in solidarity with the Iranian people at this decisive moment in February 2026.
The uprising that began in late 2025 is far more than a protest against economic ruin and repression. It is the voice of an ancient civilization demanding rebirth: Woman, Life, Freedom — the same moral imperative that arose after the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022, now grown into an irreversible refusal of isolation, fear, corruption, and the systematic stifling of human potential.
The regime’s answer—prolonged internet shutdowns, violence, and mass arrests—has deepened national trauma and accelerated the demand for change. Yet precisely in this darkness lies Iran’s greatest opportunity in centuries: to reclaim its civilizational genius and rebirth itself through ethical intelligence, inclusive innovation, and humanistic renewal in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Core Vision: Iran Reborn within the AI World Society Framework
We envision a New Iran that honors its 2,500-year legacy of philosophy, science, poetry, mathematics, and human dignity while becoming one of the world’s leading exemplars of wise, humane AI guided by the AI World Society (AIWS) Framework.
The AIWS Framework—developed since 2017 by the Boston Global Forum—provides an ethical, architectural, and governance blueprint for this rebirth. Its core principles include:
Human Dignity & Human-in-Command
AI must always serve life and never become an instrument of suppression. Every AI system in the New Iran will be built with ethics-by-design, human-in-command safeguards, transparency, and accountability at the center.
We reject surveillance authoritarianism. The New Iran will build privacy-protecting, auditable AI that safeguards women, youth, ethnic and religious minorities, and all who seek truth and justice—through enforceable data rights, independent oversight, and public accountability.
Woman, Life, Freedom as the Ethical Foundation of AIWS-Iran
Gender equality is non-negotiable and will be the moral litmus test for every AI policy, algorithm, and deployment. AI will empower women and girls in education, entrepreneurship, digital health, creative industries, and governance—dismantling patriarchal control rather than reinforcing it.
Inclusive Economic & Social Renaissance
Iran’s exceptionally talented youth deserve an economy of creativity and merit. Under the AIWS Framework, ethical AI can:
- Restore public trust through transparent, tamper-proof financial and procurement systems that fight corruption
- Generate millions of dignified jobs in ethical AI, green technologies, digital medicine, cultural preservation, and knowledge services
- Reverse brain drain by making Iran a global magnet for talent through open internet, academic freedom, and international collaboration
- Solve existential challenges—water scarcity, agriculture, and climate resilience—turning crisis into sustainable opportunity
Normalization and Openness with the United States and Global Reconnection
Iran must end self-imposed digital, intellectual, and diplomatic isolation. We call for normalization and openness with the United States—diplomatic, economic, cultural, scientific, and technological—founded on mutual respect, regional stability, and a shared interest in peaceful progress.
Normalization and openness will enable Iran to join the global AI World Society movement, adopt open and ethical AI standards, collaborate freely with leading American universities—Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University—as well as technology innovators and civil society, and participate as an equal partner in humanity’s AI century.
Global reconnection also means renewed engagement with international institutions, scientific networks, cultural communities, and the Iranian diaspora worldwide—so Iran’s future is built through openness, learning, and cooperation, not isolation.
Truth, Reconciliation, and Restorative Justice
A New Iran cannot be built on denial or vengeance. The AIWS Framework supports secure, privacy-preserving tools for documenting past violations, identifying systemic patterns of abuse, preserving collective memory, enabling healing, and supporting accountability without cycles of retribution.
We affirm a path of justice that is lawful, transparent, and humane—protecting due process, honoring victims, and preventing future abuses—so the nation can heal and move forward together.
To the Iranian People
You are not alone.
Your demand for dignity, freedom, creativity, and justice is aligned with the deepest promise of the AI World Society: that intelligence—both human and artificial—must serve conscience, life, and human dignity.
To the International Community — Especially the United States
Stand with the Iranian people through moral clarity and practical solidarity: support secure communication and open information flows, protect civil society and digital rights defenders, resist censorship and disinformation, and prepare to build long-term partnership once Iran chooses openness.
Normalization and openness with the United States is not a concession—it is a strategic necessity for peace, prosperity, and shared leadership in the ethical AI Age.
Final Affirmation
Iran is not condemned to perpetual repression.
Iran is not destined for isolation in the AI century.
With one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, extraordinary resilience, and a new generation ready to lead, Iran can become a great society demonstrating—under the AI World Society Framework—that intelligence, human and artificial, can and must serve dignity, freedom, life, and love.
This is our manifesto.
This is our shared hope.
This is the call for A New Iran: A Civilization Reborn with the AI World Society Framework.
Boston Global Forum – AI World Society Family
February 2026
