In this May, the White House announced New Actions to Promote Responsible AI Innovation, while G-7 Summit leaders called for international standards on AI. Following up these efforts, leaders of OpenAI, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, wrote: “Governance of superintelligence – Now is a good time to start thinking about the governance of superintelligence—future AI systems dramatically more capable than even AGI.”
Former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija, a Global Enlightenment leader highlighted on May 27, 2023: “Few years ago at our BGF conferences and in our book ‘Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment’ as well, I was calling for the establishment on international regulatory body like for nuclear energy (IAEA) with all references for that approach. Now creators of OpenAI are making that call, and BGF leaders will all support and ready to work with leaders of OpenAI for this mission.”
Since 2017, Boston Global Forum has contributed AI World Society model to maximizes the benefits of AI while managing and controlling the associated risks for individuals, organizations, and governments. This model seeks to achieve greater intelligence, higher labor productivity, increased efficiency, speed, and optimization, all while ensuring responsible AI development.
BGF has taken several initiatives to lay the foundation for a new AI World Society called the Age of Global Enlightenment. The first of these initiatives was the BGF-G7 Summit in 2018, which introduced the AIWS 7-Layer Model to Build Next Generation Democracy. Subsequently, the AIWS-G7 Summit Initiative in 2019 introduced the concepts of AI-Government and AI-Citizen. In collaboration with the United Nations Academic Impact, BGF co-founded the United Nations Centennial Initiative in 2019, with the goal of building the Age of Global Enlightenment.
To further solidify the framework for AI governance, BGF partnered with the Club de Madrid, an organization of over 100 former presidents and prime ministers, to announce the Social Contract for the Age of Artificial Intelligence in September 2020. This was followed by the announcement of the AI International Accord (AIIA) and the co-founding of the Global Alliance for Digital Governance (GADG) in September 2021. These initiatives provide a framework for relationships between nations, businesses, and individuals in the era of AI, technology, and data. It is crucial to understand that the world of AI, technology, and data requires not only technological standards but also social standards rooted in ethical principles. These fundamental standards represent the ideals that civilized humanity aspires to achieve, ensuring every citizen can maximize their potential in innovation, have equal opportunities, actively participate in social governance and supervision, receive fair opportunities in education, be educated in the foundational values of humanity and society, and have access to information, transparency, and public accountability. By adhering to these standards, we can limit conflicts, mutual destruction, and mitigate the risks posed by AI.
Furthermore, AI and data have the potential to build a better and more democratic society. By leveraging AI, we can restrain governments with extreme nationalist ambitions from deceiving the people through media manipulation and trampling on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations. The Social Contract for the Age of Artificial Intelligence aims to empower each citizen to maximize their own abilities and power while upholding ethical standards.
In collaboration with the United Nations Academic Impact, BGF co-founded the United Nations Centennial Initiative in 2019, laying the groundwork for the Age of Global Enlightenment. The Social Contract for the Age of Artificial Intelligence explicitly recognizes AI Assistants as a center of power. Platforms like ChatGPT, born on November 30, 2022, serve as material embodiments of this idea. The question then arises: how do we control and govern this center of power?
To address this question, BGF organized a series of high-level conferences on Governance for AI Assistants and ChatGPT, culminating in the High-level Conference on April 26, 2023, at the Harvard University Faculty Club. The Framework for Global Governance of AI Assistants and ChatGPT was announced during this conference. These efforts, along with the establishment of the Global Enlightenment Community, create an international platform where leaders, thinkers, innovators, artists, and business leaders can come together to promote thought, creativity, and ethical behaviors worldwide. The community emphasizes the urgent need for government action to translate words into tangible actions.
In building the Age of Global Enlightenment, four pillars play a crucial role: the United States, Japan, Europe, and India. These countries and regions, with their technological prowess and economic models driven by AI and digital advancements, form the foundation for the Global Enlightenment Mountain—a new Silicon Valley model. It is heartening to see the establishment of the Global Internet Governance, Digital Empowerment and Security Alliance (GLIDES), which BGF fully supports as a Charter Member.
Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija speaking at the BGF High-level Conference at Harvard Faculty Club