by Editor BGF | Feb 8, 2026 | News
The Soul of Tea (Hồn Trà) is a distinctive cultural practice of the AI World Society (AIWS), created to strengthen the moral and human foundation of leadership in the AI Age. Rooted in contemplation and compassion, The Soul of Tea invites participants to savor Cao Trà—the concentrated quintessence of tea—slowly and mindfully, allowing quietness and clarity to arise. In that calm, participants intentionally cultivate optimism, joy, and love for people and the world, and then turn their thoughts toward what is noble—so that noble creative ideas and constructive actions may emerge.
In AIWS, culture is not a decorative element; it is a form of governance. The Soul of Tea serves as a gentle discipline that helps leaders, innovators, scholars, and citizens strengthen inner balance, ethical judgment, and a sense of shared humanity—especially amid rapid technological change. It encourages a way of thinking that is both elevated and practical: to seek truth with humility, to protect human dignity, and to design AI that advances peace, trust, and human flourishing.
Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan have contributed this cultural initiative as part of AIWS’s broader mission: to ensure that the world’s most powerful technologies are guided by the world’s most enduring values. The Soul of Tea is offered as a simple but profound ritual—an AIWS cultural signature—reminding us that the future of AI must be shaped not only by intelligence, but by wisdom and love.
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.
