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AI Governance (STG-MA-ECM-AIG)

STG-MA-ECM-AIG

Description

Science and technology (S&T) have been the focal point and a tool for international relations at least since the Roman Empire, but became formalized and institutionalized during World War II in efforts focused on controlling the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the exploration of outer space. This laid the basis for agreements that sought to collectively maximize their potential while minimizing and controlling the associated risks. Since 2016, AI, the defining technology of our era, has dominated this discussion and is poised to do so for decades to come. How this dialogue evolves will have a profound impact on international relations. This course examines how AI is shaping technology diplomacy, international relations and transnational governance. For many, AI’s ascension is a chance to foster shared prosperity, and harness it for social good, while recognizing its risks and seeking methods to limit the harms. If left ungoverned, many feel that AI could be a potent tool for sowing divisions, intrusive meddling, and automating warfare, as well as giving rise to new corporate sovereign powers that rival or surpass States. Navigating this uncharted territory is all the more challenging because the contours are constantly changing as the technology evolves. In this course, we will explore the parameters of AI governance in a global context, identify key topics, vital institutions, and significant policies shaping this conversation. Students will become familiar with key issues that dominate political agendas around the world, important players and coalitions addressing AI, and the interplay that can yield success, or result in impasse.

Through case studies, readings, and interactive discussions, students will gain a deeper understanding and foundational knowledge equipping them to assess the emerging challenges and opportunities for governance of a technology that is inherently global. The assignments will hone your policy writing, both in briefing memos and longer analytical reports, as well as your oral communication and presentation skills, and working as part of a team. Students will gain familiarity with the international evolution, current state, and future trajectory of AI governance, explore the function of various stakeholders in shaping global policy, and analyse the growing role of tech diplomacy in the age of AI. Students will learn about the world’s most prominent multi-stakeholder groups, including: the Group of Seven (G7), the Group of 20 (G20), the BRICS, the European Union (EU), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations (UN), and the ebband flow of AI Safety Institutes. Students will come to understand the relative position of different countries and how the geo-political dynamics shape the potential for global governance of this key technology. The course will explore how the past affects the current debate. From this position, students will probe the emerging shape of future global AI governance. This AI-induced new alignment of countries, institutions and rules will have profound implications for 21st Century world order. This course is based on four modules that are inter-linked and contain learning objectives that combine to provide a new skill set. Part One will examine the foundations of AI and the role of technology diplomacy as a key element of soft power and security policy. AI is a system that combines technologies and as such represents a confluence of old and new policy debates on data, computing, the internet and algorithms. Part Two will examine the key issues that shape the debate and the position of key players. Students will acquire knowledge about the issues that are on the table – values, ethics and the place of humans, the threats AI may enable and amplify, the economic and societal disruption as well as the implications for relative economic competitiveness. Part Three will apply the knowledge acquired to date to the ever-evolving geo-politics and the dynamics at play between China, the European Union (and its big players), United States and the constellations of like-minded countries (e.g. the OECD, the BRICS), as well as the countries currently circling the periphery of the core debates. You will learn about the latest AI policy developments at various international discussions, the constellation of various meetings and organisations involved and what this portends for a coherent global approach. Part Four will draw on the previous three parts and engage students in thinking about the future of global AI governance. We will explore what may be areas of common ground that can act as a basis for a global approach to AI governance, as well as red-lines that may lead to a disjointed approach.

 

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