The Boston Global Forum and Governor Michael Dukakis are honored to present these special gifts to the Government and People of Nha Trang City and Khanh Hoa Province. These images symbolize the strong bond and enduring friendship between Boston and Khanh Hoa, reflecting our shared commitment to fostering collaboration and goodwill.
The Gift to Khanh Hoa – A Symbol of Unity and Progress
This image captures the iconic Harvard University building, representing Boston’s rich history of education, innovation, and leadership. Paired with the serene and breathtaking sea and island landscape of Khanh Hoa Province, it symbolizes the unity and progress achievable through collaborative efforts and shared values. This gift is a tribute to the collective aspiration for a prosperous, innovative, and peaceful future.
The Gift to Nha Trang – Embracing Cultural Heritage and Natural Beauty
This image juxtaposes the scenic beauty of Nha Trang City’s coastline with the distinguished architecture of Harvard University, a symbol of Boston, the intellectual capital of the world today. It highlights the cultural heritage and natural beauty of Nha Trang, one of the most beautiful bays in the world, celebrating the unique identity and charm of the region. This gift is a reminder of the importance of preserving our cultural and natural treasures while pursuing advancements in education and technology.
To be presented on May 30, 2024, these gifts are a testament to the commitment of BGF and Governor Michael Dukakis to supporting the development and well-being of Nha Trang City and Khanh Hoa Province. We look forward to continued collaboration and the fostering of a global community grounded in mutual respect and shared values.
Nguyen Anh Tuan and Fadi Chedade will speak at the session “The impact of Artificial Intelligence on interpersonal relationships and between religions” at the International Interreligious Conference 2024.
The topic of Tuan’s talk is “Spiritual Values of Religions for The Knowledge Platform for AI.” He will present ideas for the integration of spiritual values from various religions into the Knowledge Platform for AI:
BGF CEO Nguyen Anh Tuan
A dimension of the Knowledge Platform is incorporating the spiritual values of various and diverse religions into its development, enriching its ethical framework and enhancing its ability to guide decision-making processes. The principles and values of world religious traditions, such as Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism, can contribute to the platform.
The International Interreligious Conference 2024 is organized by Focolare Movement’s Center for Interreligious Dialogue at Castel Gandolfo, Assisi, Rome from 31 May to 4 June, 2024.
There have not been any groundbreaking or world-shifting events that happened within the Four Pillars space this week, or in the past couple weeks rather, there have been some interesting developments to dig into.
News broke toward the end of the week, that US President Biden is planning quadruple tariffs on Chinese EV manufacturers, in addition to Chinese goods such as solar panels and medical supplies. Although it may not make good economic sense to leverage tariffs, given the state of the US auto industry too, it is sometimes necessary to make national security decisions like these. Auto, energy, and medical are some very vital industries that should not be dominated by a potential adversary. As the CCP continues to saber-rattle in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, the Pillars should safeguard their supply chains and industries from repercussions of conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. This upcoming tariff is in parallel with the row against TikTok (who have now officially sued the bill calling for its sale on First Amendment grounds), and demonstrates the competition against China is only beginning.
In Ukraine, there is some tension with a Russian attack in the Kharkiv region, potentially opening up another front in the war. It was reported that Russian forces did not breach Ukraine’s defense though. It is very relieving that US aid has resumed, but the Pillars, especially Europe, should firmly make a decision on how far they would be willing to support Ukraine, rather than dragging their feet on piecemeal assistance. It should be reminded that if Ukraine falls, NATO members in Central Europe and the Baltics would most likely be next.
Regarding the Israel-Hamas war, the US has drawn a red line over the upcoming (or perhaps ongoing) Israeli operation in Rafah, the southernmost and final city in Gaza that Israel has not operated in. Although Israel’s casus belli and engagement in this conflict are understandable, the methods and executions of their war on Hamas still leaves a lot to be desired. The Pillars should find a way to provide humanitarian relief without using intermediaries on the ground, as middle-men and indirect aid distribution increase the chance of Hamas seizing supplies and keeping it for themselves. Still, the US has switched to conditional aid for Israel over Rafah – a necessity given the gravity of this operation.
Minh Nguyen is the Chief Editor of the Boston Global Forum and a Shinzo Abe Initiative Fellow. She writes the Four Pillars column in the BGF Weekly newsletter.
At the BGF Conference “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy, and Humanity,” hosted at Harvard University Loeb House on April 30, 2024, Dr. Alondra Nelson was honored with the World Leader in AIWS 2024 Award, and the “Knowledge Platform for AI” was introduced and discussed publicly for the first time. Below is a photo collection from the event:
BGF CEO Nguyen Anh Tuan
Governor Michael Dukakis
Ami Fields-Meyer, former Senior Policy Advisor at the White House
World Leader in AIWS Alondra Nelson
MIT Scholar Robert Mahari
MIT Professor Alex Pentland
MIT Professor Nazli Choucri
MIT Professor Lily Tsai
David Hall, TAMP’s CEO and AKT Health’s Managing Director
Harvard Professor David Silbersweig
Partner of EY, Harvard and MIT Scholar Jeff Saviano
Boston Global Forum is proud to announce the appointment of Jeffrey N. Saviano as the Director of AIWS Ethics. Jeffrey brings a wealth of experience to this role as a Partner at EY, a Scholar at the Harvard Center for Ethics, and a Fellow of MIT Connection Science. As a member of the board, Jeff will oversee the ethical considerations within the AIWS framework, ensuring that AI technologies are developed and implemented in a manner consistent with ethical principles and human values.
Jeff Saviano presented on AI ethics at the BGF Conference “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy, and Humanity,” at Harvard University Loeb House on April 30, 2024, contributing to the ongoing dialogue. His presentation, “Ethics for the Knowledge Platform for AI,” emphasized the importance of ethical guidelines and standards in the development and utilization of AI technologies. He highlighted how the Knowledge Platform will use these human ethical principles to create a database of humanity’s knowledge.
Over the past week of May 6-12, representatives of the Boston Global Forum met with leaders of prominent think tanks in Washington DC, including the Wilson Center and the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security (GIWPS). Topics of these meetings vary between peace, security, AI governance, women’s role in the AI age, and the establishment of new democracy with AI.
Through initiatives such as the Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security and AI World Society, the BGF seeks to collaborate with civil society and think tanks to address global challenges, both technological and geopolitical, cooperating via roundtables and conferences. The proposed roundtables will serve as platforms for in-depth discussions and brainstorming of solutions, bringing together leaders from Japan, Europe, India, and the United States, the Four Pillars. These discussions will facilitate meaningful dialogues on key topics and foster international cooperation between the Pillars in addressing challenges to the rules-based order.
The outcome of these Roundtables will be a set of recommendations and solutions for the significant issues discussed, providing actionable insights to guide world leaders and society in addressing global challenges and advancing peace, security, and ethical AI governance.
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, executive director of GIWPS, and BGF Chief Editor Minh Nguyen
2024 World Leader in AIWS Award Alondra Nelson wrote about the ceremony to celebrate the spectacular tenure of Ami Fields-Meyer, her former Chief of Staff during her time at the Office of Science and Technology Policy and a speaker at the BGF Conference “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy, and Humanity” at Harvard University Loeb House, April 30, 2024.
Dr. Nelson wrote:
It was sheer joy to return to the White House this week to celebrate the spectacular tenure of Ami Fields-Meyer at the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. As I said on Tuesday, one of my fondest (and recurring) memories of Ami is his being in his office late at night after most others had left. Whenever I thought I was the only one remaining on the 4th floor of the EEOB, there was Ami, outlasting me for a few minutes or hours. Ike Irby, PhD, Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Harris, spoke powerfully and eloquently about how the *impact* of this hard work and these late nights would be manifest in US and international AI governance. Ami came to science and technology policy after working on some of the thorniest domestic policy issues we face, including the COVID-19 pandemic, generational poverty, and homelessness in New York City and Los Angeles. Through this work, he came to appreciate that equitable science and technology policy are domestic policy, economic justice policy, health equity policy, and housing policy and more; they sit at the center of our greatest current and future challenges, and of some of the possible solutions to them. His long hours were a reflection of the sense of urgency he felt for the work at hand and a recognition of the small window of time we’d been granted by the American public to make a material improvement in their lives. I like to think this was why Ami was so frequently in the office late into the night (but I know it was also because he could be bribed with dinner from the Navy Mess 😂). When we faced difficult policy issues and decision points, Ami and I would trade gems of wisdom from our parents with our colleagues: “Rabbi Shawn would say…” “Delores would want us to pray on it” “My dad has this saying from New Orleans…” “Tom would write it this way…” Our families were always, always with us. So it was extra special that Ami’s dad, Tom Fields-Meyer, joined us in cheering him on. Bravo, Ami–thank you for your service! And, onward!
Please watch Ami Fields-Meyer’s presentation at the BGF Conference on YouTube.
Alondra Nelson and Ami Fields-Meyer at the BGF Conference
Ami Fields-Meyer, former Senior Policy Advisor at The White House and the Chief of Staff of Dr. Alondra Nelson during her time leading the Office of Science and Technology Policy, gave an insightful talk on AI and democratic governance at the BGF Conference “Governing the Future: AI, Democracy, and Humanity.” Titled “Resilient Democracy in the Age of AI,” he discussed several key ideas that shed light on tensions between AI and current conceptions of democratic governance. AI is not just a tool, but holds capacity to reshape society for good or for harm. He warned about the negatives externalities that unchecked AI can affect society, such as potential discrepancies for discrimination and the contradictions between profit motives and democractic values. Still, he stated that AI regulation and governance is still within the capacity of government to act upon and society to advocate for.
Four Pillars is unfortunately on break this week as we prepare for the upcoming publication of materials and multimedia from the ceremony and conference last week. In lieu of a full analysis article, here are some interesting issues and topics in the Four Pillars space in the past week, some articles are long-form, some just news worth keeping an eye on:
[Politico EU] TikTok ban in EU is ‘not excluded,’ von der Leyen says (2024-04-29) — Another Pillar considers banning TikTok! As the EU is more robust in its regulatory frameworks, hopefully there is quick agreement on the issue.
[Bloomberg] US Spies See China, Russia Militaries Working Closer on Taiwan (2024-05-02) — This is not a groundbreaking development, but rather an affirmation what many already know to be true – indeed China and Russia see each other as “natural allies,” and thus if the Pillars and democratic states want to continue upholding the rules-based order, the challenges of both Putin and Xi Jinping will have to be matched by the Pillars.
[Der Spiegel] How the AfD Became the Long Arm of Russia and China (2024-05-01) — Turning a blind eye to crises or issues within the rules-based order is of course not good, but if you wish to rebel against the system, be wary of who you make friends with.
[Politico EU] Georgian parliament backs ‘Russia-style’ foreign agent law despite major protests (2024-05-01) — When given alternatives, the public prefers to stay or join the rules-based order, or join the liberal democratic world. In Georgia, despite various Russian meddling and vague Russophile sympathies from some parties, the public says they want to join the EU, a Pillar.
[Mint] India, US to expand naval ship repair network (2024-05-01) — Another step in the improvement of relations between the two Pillars of USA and India, hopefully leading to furtherr cooperation between the two.
[The Economist] A digital payments revolution in India (2023-04-15) — actually an article from 2023, but an interesting analysis given the Roundtable with Amitabh Kant in late April at Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy School.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Photographer: Pavel Byrkin/AFP/Getty Images
Minh Nguyen is the Chief Editor of the Boston Global Forum and a Shinzo Abe Initiative Fellow. She writes the Four Pillars column in the BGF Weekly newsletter.
