At the G7 Leaders’ Summit kick-off, 2020 World Leader for Peace and Security Award, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, delivered her message on the G7 Summit 2024 in Bari, Italy:
Unity for Ukraine’s freedom.
Unity for a peaceful and stable Middle East and the three-phase plan.
Unity for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Alessandro Della Valle / AP
Lila Kee, the General Manager for GlobalSign‘s North and South American operations, as well as the company’s Chief Product Officer.
AI Governance In Action
These key points were top of mind at a recent event I attended, sponsored by the Boston Global Forum (BGF), titled “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy and Humanity.” The event was facilitated by BGF cofounder Nguyen Anh Tuan and attended by leaders in academia, technology and public policy. Dr. Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, also spoke about the importance of ensuring policy innovation keeps up with AI innovation.
My takeaway was that policymakers and stakeholders shouldn’t overly fret about not having a deep understanding of the technology stack behind AI. Instead, they should focus on how AI could help sustain and enhance global initiatives impacting human rights.
Industry initiatives, for example, are focusing on developing standards to distinguish between AI-generated and original images. The AI Governance Alliance advocates for traceability in AI-generated content; this could be achieved through various watermarking techniques. Similarly, C2PA, an industry-led coalition, focuses on the traceability of original and real-world captured content.
It has been assessed by American and Four Pillars defense officials that the Russian advance on Kharkiv is ‘all but over,’ indicating that Russia has yet again failed to make major advances since 2022, or last year if one counts their gains in the Donbas regions. It is clear over the past year that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition between the two countries, with current frontlines calcifying into status quo. The question now is to see who can outlast their opponent, if this turns into a long attritional war a la Iran-Iraq, and with that, if the conflict remains frozen or ends decisively.
Another thing of note, not to celebrate too early, but it appears the worst factors for Ukraine have passed. After the unsuccessful counter-offensive, events seemed to keep stacking against Ukraine and Zelenskyy: severe lack of ammunition and manpower, the stalling of aid from the Four Pillars, wavering enthusiasm both domestic and international, and Russia’s expansion of its war capacity. This was marked by Russian captures of towns in the Donbas toward the end last year, and many worried if Ukraine could survive a reorganized Russian offensive. Even with their own shortfalls, Ukraine was able to hold out until aid packages began again from the US, and members of the Four Pillars via NATO such as France offered military advisors on the ground – which is helping reinforce the gaps. However, other attritional issues continue to plague them. On the other hand, while Russia has postured strength both domestically and to Ukraine’s supporters, such as threatening to strike NATO members and Putin’s enjoyment of Russian support or apathy towards the war, there have been claims of cracks in the foundation, that Russia may not have time for a major offensive or breakthrough or its economy is overheating.
This month has already seen four notable elections in the world – South Africa, India (a Pillar), Mexico, and the European Parliament. Although not earthshaking like the upcoming ones, they are still interesting indicators of global sentiments vis-a-vis voter’s own domestic concerns and feelings on global issues, where the Four Pillars space is concerned. Upcoming elections this year include the UK, France (Macron in fact called a snap election after the EP election), and of course, the US. Keep in mind that these countries are all Pillars. While not policy or global peace and security specific, these elections are still worth keeping an eye on as a vibe barometer of sorts, and to see the strengths and weaknesses of the rules-based order. On the anniversary of D-Day, as Biden and Macron have done this past week, let us remember the sacrifices made for freedom and democracy that should be upheld and preserved now and eternal.
Articles of the week – India, Mexico, South Africa Went to the Polls. Here’s What We Learned. [Politico]; Biden links WW2 and Ukraine war in D-Day address [BBC]
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I greet the President of the Focolare Movement, to whom I say that I am praying very much for your country which is suffering at this time. I also warmly welcome all the participants in this Interreligious Conference. I express my gratitude for the perseverance with which the Work of Mary continues the journey begun by Chiara Lubich, fostering unity with people of non-Christian religions who share the spirituality of unity. This was a revolutionary journey that did much good for the Church. It is an experience animated by the Holy Spirit, rooted, we can say, in the heart of Christ, in his thirst for love, communion and fraternity.
Indeed, it is the Spirit who opens paths of dialogue and encounter, at times surprising ones. This happened more than fifty years ago in Algeria, when an all-Muslim community adhering to the Movement was born. It also happened with Chiara Lubich’s meetings with leaders of various religions: Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, and others. This dialogue has flourished over time, as evidenced by your presence today.
The foundation of this experience is the love of God expressed through mutual love, listening, trust, hospitality and getting to know one another, all the while fully respecting each other’s identities. Over time, friendship and cooperation have grown in seeking to respond together to the cry of the poor, in caring for creation and in working for peace. Through this journey, some non-Christian brothers and sisters have shared in the spirituality of the Work of Mary, or in some of its characteristic traits, and live according to them amongst their own people. With these men and women, we transcend dialogue, we feel like brothers and sisters, sharing the dream of a more united world, in the harmony of diversity.
Dear friends, your witness is a source of joy and a source of consolation, especially in this time of conflict, when religion is often misused in order to fuel division. Indeed, interreligious dialogue “is a necessary condition for peace in the world, and so it is a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities” (Evangelii Gaudium, 250). I encourage you, then, to move forward and always be open.
May the Lord bless all of you. May he grant his blessing to each one of you, for the Lord is close to us all. May the Lord bless you. Amen.
The MIT professor describes practical approaches to improving the internet.
This article was originally published on Stanford Human-Centered AI -BGF
For Alex “Sandy” Pentland, a longtime professor of information technology at MIT, big societal questions have always been top of mind. And that focus has led to big impact. His group developed a digital health system for rural health workers in developing countries that today (with support from the Gates Foundation) guides health services for 400 million people. Another effort resulted in the deployment of tools for ensuring fair and unbiased social services support for 80 million children across Latin America. Another spinoff developed open-source identity and authentication mechanisms now built into most smartphones and relied on by 85% of humanity.
In 2008, Pentland began co-leading discussions at Davos that were widely recognized as the genesis of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Today, he serves on the board of the UN Foundation’s Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, which uses data to track countries’ progress toward 17 different sustainability goals.
This spring, Pentland joined Stanford HAI’s Digital Economy Lab as a center fellow and the faculty lead for research on Digital Platforms and Society. Here he hopes to continue building a better digital ecosystem for all and to address the ways in which social media and AI are impacting democracy and society. We recently sat down with Pentland to ask him about his plans.
What do you mean by building a better digital ecosystem?
Thirty to forty years ago, we suddenly had the internet. While we’ve done many good things with it, we’ve also done some questionable things. And people are scared about what’s going to come next, such as bad actors using AI in nefarious ways; widespread misinformation altering our shared community understanding; and cyberattacks that affect our financial system. I’d like to see us build a better digital ecosystem so that we can have a thriving, creative, safe society.
What does that look like in practical terms?
There are a variety of ways we can achieve that goal. For example, courts and law enforcement need a way to uncover the real identity of online actors.
A second idea is that we need to draw a line between individual expression and mass expression. For example, consider the case where influencers often have more than a million “friends” on social media. Anyone with that many people following them can make money and build a reputation while saying whatever they want. And I think these overly powerful voices ought to be treated like businesses and not like individuals. They shouldn’t be able to cry “fire” in a crowded theater or tell outright lies. Those are basic standards we demand of other businesses. TV news shows or newspapers can’t publish something just to generate outrage. Digital media should be responsible for taking the same kind of care to protect the public good. If you’re going to express your ideas to a million people, then you’re a business and you ought to be regulated like a business.
We also need to reduce partisan animosity online. Currently, digital media are designed to get us to react quickly, which results in unthinking responses that in turn lead to cascades of behavior where everyone becomes outraged. We need a system that instead encourages people to communicate in ways that support democratic processes rather than tearing them apart. Large-scale experiments find that online discussions are improved when people are encouraged to reflect a little bit on what they are about to say. For example, we see less division and outrage online when we add an extra step that allows time for reflection before replying or forwarding, or add a prompt to consider what a comment will do to your reputation.
You have said we need to rethink the internet’s architecture. What does that mean?
We need to have new security standards. In the early days of the internet, the developers didn’t include important security and digital identity features because users were mostly government employees and university faculty. But today, everyone is on the internet and that means bad actors have an opportunity to do all sorts of damaging things. Nations that don’t like us can disrupt our cyber world through distributed attacks, bots, and troll farms. People can spread mis- and disinformation on social media without reprisal. And these behaviors destroy our ability to discuss things meaningfully with each other and to make rational decisions.
In some cases, fixing the problem will require changing often subtle little things down in the guts of the internet. As an example, if someone is producing 50,000 tweets a day, that’s a bot, not a human. That’s an obvious case, but there are other things we can do to find bots more efficiently, determine when foreign nations are interfering in elections, and better deal with ransomware and cyberattacks. The problems we have now evolved because the architecture of the internet was never completed. And now maybe the time has finally come to finish the job.
So, at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, we’re going to try out various fixes experimentally to see what sorts of economic and social incentives work and then hopefully make change happen.
While at Stanford you’re also joining the team of researchers including Condoleezza Rice, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Nate Persily who are working on a series of essays dubbed the “Digitalist Papers.” Tell me about that.
The Digitalist Papers will be modeled after the Federalist Papers, which were a series of 85 essays written by three people in 1787-88 arguing for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. They made the case for the creation of a country by design rather than by accident or force.
Today, we have the internet, smartphones, and AI, so perhaps there’s a better form of governance that we can design – something that’s more transparent, more accountable, and perhaps wiser. And so, for the Digitalist Papers, we’re assembling experts from around the world from a variety of fields – economics, politics, law, technology – to write essays about how the intersection of technology with each of these fields might lead to better governance.
We’re hopeful that putting these essays out in the world will change the terms of the discussion and shift what people believe they should be working toward.
We’ve been talking about improving the digital ecosystem in general. Do you have particular thoughts about how AI currently plays – or will play – a role in our digital ecosystem?
First of all, AI is not new. The first AIs in the 1960s were logic engines. And then came expert systems, and then came collaborative filtering. All of these are pervasive today and have had some negative effects, from centralizing data like never before to allowing for a surveillance society.
So, we should think about what the current wave of AI is going to do before it really takes off. And it’s not artificial general intelligence, or AGI, that worries me. It’s that AI is becoming pervasive in so many parts of our lives, including our medical system, our transportation system, and our schooling system. It’s going to be everywhere, just like the previous waves of AI were. And we need to make sure that it’s prosocial.
To me, AI has always been and continues to be a way of finding and using patterns in data. So, if you want to control AI, you have to control the data it feeds on by demanding privacy rights and ownership rights over data. Without that, AI will just run amok. Data are like the food for AI, and if you want to control AI, you have to control the data.
What is it that drives you and keeps you doing this work?
I think that developing a humanistic digital infrastructure is one of the best things a person can do right now. If I can help create a world that is human centered and that harnesses all these new digital tools and AIs for the good of society, that would be about the best thing I could do with my life just because it is so transformative.
Pope Francis praises the Focolare Movement for fostering interreligious dialogue and for their efforts in unity, mutual respect, and peacebuilding.
By Francesca Merlo
This article was originally published on Vatican News -BGF
Greeting members of the Focolare Movement, in Rome for an Interreligious Conference, Pope Francis opened with a moment of solidarity with the Movement’s President, Margaret Karram, born in Israel to a Palestinian family. As he greeted her the Holy Father assured her of his prayers for her homeland, which he said is “suffering so much at this time”.
Speaking after the event, the President of the Movement described her interpretation of the Pope’s words as being that the Holy Father “prays for my land, where two peoples live and two peoples suffer”.
In line with this, Pope Francis highlighted the Focolare Movement’s perseverance in “fostering unity with people of non-Christian religions who share the spirituality of unity”.
This, he said, is an experience which is “animated by the Holy Spirit, rooted, we can say, in the heart of Christ, in his thirst for love, communion and fraternity”.
Opening the path of encounter
Pope Francis continued by emphasising that it is indeed the Spirit who “opens paths of dialogue and encounter”, adding that at times they are “surprising ones”. An example of this, said the Pope, took place more than fifty years ago in Algeria, “when an all-Muslim community adhering to the Movement was born”. This interreligious dialogue has flourished over time, “as evidenced by your presence today”, he added.
The Holy Father then went on to address the foundation of this experience, which he described as being “the love of God expressed through mutual love, listening, trust, hospitality and getting to know one another, all the while fully respecting each other’s identities”. Over time, he continued, friendship and cooperation have grown in seeking to respond together to the cry of the poor, in caring for creation, and in working for peace.
The dream of unity
“Through this journey, some non-Christian brothers and sisters have shared in the spirituality of the Work of Mary, or in some of its characteristic traits, and live according to them amongst their own people” noted the Pope. He explained that we transcend dialogue with these men and women with whom we feel like brothers and sisters, sharing the dream of a more united world, in the harmony of diversity.
Bringing his address to a close, Pope Francis, reminded those present that their witness is “a source of joy and consolation, especially in this time of conflict, when religion is often misused in order to fuel division”. For this reason, he concluded, “Interreligious Dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world”.
credit: Vatican Media
On June 1, 2024, the International Inter-religious Conference at the Vatican marked a historic milestone with the groundbreaking ideas presented by Boston Global Forum (BGF) CEO Nguyen Anh Tuan. During the panel titled “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Interpersonal Relationships and Between Religions,” Tuan called upon all participants of the conference, leaders of religions, distinguished thinkers, innovators, and companies to join in taking action for equality of opportunities in AI.
In his address, Nguyen Anh Tuan emphasized the crucial role of interfaith and interreligious cooperation in the era of artificial intelligence. He introduced BGF’s Knowledge Platform for AI and announced that the Boston Global Forum would collaborate with religious leaders to ensure equality of opportunity for every person, company, country, and religion in AI. This initiative aims to foster a new democracy, happiness, and safety for humanity.
Pope Francis delivered a welcome speech to participants of the conference on June 3, 2024, at the Clementine Hall, Vatican.
BGF will work with recipients of the World Leader Award, including Ursula von der Leyen, Andreas Norlén, Sanae Takaichi, Amandeep Gill, Alondra Nelson, and Vint Cerf, for this noble mission. Together with the Focolare Movement and other religious organizations, they will champion the cause of equality of opportunities in AI, ensuring that the benefits of AI are accessible to all, regardless of their background or beliefs.
BGF will announce an action plan for this goal on July 1, 2024. They are open to working and cooperating with every organization and individual who shares this vision.
The PDF of this publication can be viewed here — AIWS: Pioneering AI Governance and New Democracy
Yasuhide Nakayama
Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia
David Lovejoy
AIWS: Pioneering AI Governance and New Democracy
Since its inception in November 2017, the Artificial Intelligence World Society (AIWS), founded by the Boston Global Forum (BGF), has been at the forefront of shaping the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) and fostering new models of democracy. Through collaborations with global leaders and top AI thinkers, AIWS has introduced innovative initiatives and frameworks aimed at harnessing AI for the betterment of society.
World Leader in AI World Society Award
Boston Global Forum annually recognizes and honors distinguished leaders for their exemplary leadership and contributions in promoting AI for a better world with the World Leader in AIWS Award starting from 2018.
BGF organizes the Conference “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy, and Humanity” on April 30, 2024, at the prestigious Harvard University Loeb House to honor Alondra Nelson, former Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden, former Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, with the 2024 World Leader in AIWS Award. This conference served as a platform to recognize Nelson’s exceptional contributions to AI governance and to explore the intersection of AI, democracy, and humanity.
The prestigious award recognizes Dr. Nelson’s outstanding contributions to shaping global public policy, the governance of artificial intelligence (AI), and our understanding of the societal dimensions of AI development and deployment.
During her tenure at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Dr. Nelson spearheaded the development of the “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights,” which was incorporated into both President Biden’s historic executive order on artificial intelligence and enacted into policy for the federal government. In leadership at OSTP, she also provided guidance to expand taxpayer access to federally funded research, served as an inaugural member of the Biden Cancer Cabinet, strengthened evidence-based policymaking, and galvanized a multisector strategy to advance equity and excellence in STEM.
Prior recipients of the AIWS World Leader Award have included Ambassador Amandeep Singh Gill, the United Nations Envoy on Technology; Stavros Lambrinidis, European Union Ambassador to the United States; Internet pioneer Vint Cerf; and Sanae Takaichi, the Japanese Minister of State for Economic Security.
AIWS Contributes AI Governance to G7 Summit from 2018: Next Generation Democracy
At the BGF-G7 Summit in 2018, AIWS unveiled the groundbreaking AIWS 7-Layer Model to Build Next Generation Democracy. This model serves as a roadmap for a future where AI is leveraged to enhance creativity, innovation, tolerance, democracy, and individual rights. It emphasizes the role of AI in assisting government decision-making and empowering citizens to participate in governance.
The following year, at the AIWS-G7 Summit Initiative in 2019, held at Harvard University’s Loeb House, AIWS introduced the concept of The Next Generation Democracy – AI World Society. This initiative envisions a society where AI fosters transparency, inclusivity, and citizen engagement in governance. It comprises three key components: AI-Government, AI-Citizen, and AI Government Index, aimed at promoting accountability and efficiency in government operations.
Collaborate with Club de Madrid from 2019: the Social Contract for the AI Age and AIWS Model
In 2020, the collaboration between Club de Madrid and BGF resulted in the Policy Lab ‘Transatlantic Approaches on Digital Governance,’ where former heads of state and government, along with experts, discussed global policies for managing digital technologies and AI. The lab announced the Social Contract for the AI Age and supported AI World Society, urging world leaders to endorse and implement it.
Continuing its efforts, Club de Madrid and BGF launched a five-year initiative in 2021 to develop a human-centered agenda for digital transformation and governance. This initiative aims to build global consensus around principles that prioritize human rights and ethical considerations in digital societies.
At the Policy Lab ‘Fundamental Rights in AI & Digital Societies’ in 2021, the Global Alliance for Digital Governance (GADG) was established, fostering collaboration between BGF and the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid to address the ethical and legal challenges posed by AI.
In 2020, the Boston Global Forum and the Riga Conferences collaborate for platforms for discussing AI governance and societal implications. Notably, the publication of the policy brief “Social Contract for the Artificial Intelligence Age” at the Riga Conference 2020 underscored the importance of safety, security, and sustainability in the AI era.
Collaboration with the United Nations in AI Governance from 2019: Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment
In 2021, the Boston Global Forum and the Riga Conference 2021 collaborated to organize a special event: “Remaking the World – The Second Age of Enlightenment – The United Nations 2045”. This discussion was a notable highlight of the Rīga Conference 2021 and was co-organized by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation and the Boston Global Forum.
The event aimed to commemorate the United Nations Centennial initiative, launched by the Boston Global Forum (BGF) and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in 2019. This initiative was established as the United Nations prepared to mark its 75th anniversary in the following year, with a vision to anticipate the world and the United Nations in 2045, the year of the world organization’s centennial.
Key messages from the event highlighted the core concepts outlined in the book “Remaking the World: Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment”. These concepts include the idea of a Social Contract for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age, a framework for an AI international accord, an ecosystem for the “AI World Society” (AIWS), and a community innovation economy. The event brought together some of the finest minds of our times to envision a future where AI is harnessed to foster global enlightenment and societal progress.
The Riga Conference 2023 published the Boston Global Forum Special Report “How to Govern AI in an Age of Global Tension” as the Policy Brief of the Riga Conference 2023.
C20-G20 Summit 2023 in India: Recognize AI World Society and the Social Contract for the AI Age
At the C20-G20 Summit in India in 2023, the recognition of the Social Contract for the AI Age and AI World Society highlighted the global significance of AI governance and the need for international cooperation.
Through its pioneering initiatives and collaborations, AIWS continues to drive conversations and actions toward a future where AI is harnessed responsibly to benefit humanity and advance democratic principles on a global scale.
President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen highlighted in her speech at the Boston Global Forum Conference on December 12, 2020: “It is such an honour to be here with you today. At the Boston Global Forum and Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation, you are at the forefront of research and debate. And you definitely work on some of the world’s most pressing issues. You drive the discussion on digital policy and how a human-centric approach on AI could look like. This is an issue whose importance simply cannot be overestimated.”
The drama in the Four Pillars topic last week revolved around the questions over allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with NATO supplied weapons. While most European members, such as Denmark, Poland, France, Germany, have publically approved usage, the US, a Pillar, remains wavering or ambiguous. It is said that the Biden administration allowed some, but not all, weapons to be used on Russia, and the White House has denied allowing Ukraine to use specific weaponries, as reported in the media. Hopefully this is some strategic ambiguity rather than a flip-flop or wavering commitment from the US, a Pillar, when the defense of Europe, another Pillar, against the Russia-China danger hinges on the situation in Ukraine. In fact, NATO members have been debating whether or not to shoot down Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian airspace – perhaps a quasi-no-fly-zone.
In the meantime, it seems that Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv has stalled for now, but one should wait and see when the fog of war is lifted in this theatre. However, as the war continues to wear on both soldiers and civilians alike, time is not in Ukraine’s favor unfortunately. The ammunition famine has been well reported, but the high quantity of the dead is starting to take a toll on performance and economy.
At the Shangri La Dialogue, there continues to be the bridging between the Four Pillars, or the three in the Indo-Pacific of the US, Japan, and India. The US and India have signed agreements on co-producing Strykers – one of the most advanced armored vehicles available right now, perhaps a gesture of good faith from the US. This means that both countries are looking to continue upgrading and strengthening their relationship, especially against China.
Japan has also continued to develop and mend relations with its non-PRC neighbors, as ties between Japan and South Korea have been warming in recent years due to the rising threat of China. However, both countries would do well to maintain this new but somewhat uneasy relationship even after the current leaders of both countries are no longer in power – for this is not just the Pillars’ interest to demonstrate a front of unity against Russia and China, but for the whole Indo-Pacific region too.
Articles of the week – Inside the NATO debate over protecting Ukraine’s skies [Semafor]; Ukraine Is Running Short of People [Bloomberg]
REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo