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President Joe Biden addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., on Sept. 19, 2023.
Biden to deliver final UNGA address at precarious moment for US and world
President Joe Biden will deliver his last address as a world leader to UNGA on Tuesday at a moment of disarray for both the US and the international community. Biden’s speech comes amid deepening political divisions in the US — just weeks ahead of a historic presidential election — and in the face of multiple major wars. The war in Gaza, and the tensions it’s fueling across the Middle East, will hang particularly heavy over Biden’s remarks.
Biden is also leaving office at a time when countries across the Global South are pointing to major double standards in terms of how the West — especially the US — approaches and upholds international values and norms. Critics of the US, for example, feel it has shown far more concern for civilians in the war in Ukraine than Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
A new report from the Munich Security Conference, which was discussed Monday at an event on the sidelines of UNGA, found that the US scored worst — alongside Russia, China, and European countries — among five out of nine countries surveyed on whether these actors treat countries like theirs with respect. To put it another way, there appears to be a growing perception in the Global South that Western countries like the US talk the talk when it comes to upholding international rules but don’t always walk the walk.
“We are all in a mess” and dealing with “fractured” societies, Samir Saran, president of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said at the event. Saran pointed out that a presidential candidate in the US, which tends to view itself as an example for the world, has recently experienced two assassination attempts.
To rebuild trust in Western-dominated institutions like the UN, the world “needs to go back to the design table,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, chair of the board of Women Political Leaders, another speaker at the event.
We’ll be watching to see what themes Biden hits on during his address on Tuesday, and whether he uses the opportunity to reassure skeptics that the US remains a steadfast partner and global leader.
At the Munich Security Conference, Trump isn't the only elephant in the room
The Munich Security Conference (MSC) is all about providing a space to address the elephant in the room and fostering discussion on that one big topic people would rather avoid, says Benedikt Franke, the forum’s vice-chairman and CEO. But there’s more than just one elephant this year — a herd.
GZERO’s Tony Maciulis spoke with Franke in the lead-up to the conference about the various “elephants” on the agenda: The war in Gaza, Donald Trump, AI, and the war in Ukraine, to name a few.
They also delve into how the conference has always been defined by turning points for the world, recounting times when the forum collided with major historical moments — or made history itself. The 2024 MSC comes amid a year in which a record number of voters will head to the polls in dozens of critical elections across the globe when many people feel increasingly pessimistic about the future.
Franke says the conference hopes to answer the question of how to inject some optimism back into discourse on the world’s problems. “We don't want this to be a doom and gloom conference, we want to do everything we can to look for the silver lining at the horizon, for the low-hanging fruits, and there are many,” he says.
Join Ian Bremmer and a panel of experts this Saturday, February 17, at 12 pm ET/9 am PT/6 pm CET for our Global Stage discussion at the Munich Security Conference: Protecting Elections in the Age of AI.
Keep up with GZERO's Global Stage coverage of MSC 2024 for more.
AI is an opportunity to build trust with the Global South: UN's Amandeep Singh Gill
AI is a test case for addressing the ballooning trust deficit with the Global South, says the UN Secretary-General's special technology envoy Amandeep Singh Gill. If the Global South is not included meaningfully, it will widen the gap, with real geopolitical implications.
At a GZERO Global Stage discussion broadcast from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gill warns that we can equitably spread the benefits of AI only if we step outside current business models, working with the Global South to integrate more practices like public-private partnerships. If we're truly serious about bridging the digital divide, says Gill, "we need to work together on those issues. That'll build you the trust with the Global South."
The conversation was part of the Global Stage series, produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft. These discussions convene heads of state, business leaders, technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.
Watch the full conversation here: How is the world tackling AI, Davos' hottest topic?
AI for all: Leave no one behind, says Microsoft's Brad Smith
Artificial intelligence could level the playing field for individuals across an array of disciplines...if people have access to it. Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, points out that access to AI tech remains a privilege that is still unavailable to hundreds of millions around the world.
Speaking in a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith points out that while the conversation about AI seems advanced in Davos, a lot of people in the Global South don't yet have access to AI, let alone basic needs like electricity, access to electronic devices, and internet connectivity.
“In a sense, we do the Global South a tremendous disservice if we talk about AI all the time as the next thing,” he said. First, "close the electricity divide, the broadband connectivity divide, the device divide, and then you can close the AI divide on top of it."
The conversation was part of the Global Stage series, produced by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft. These discussions convene heads of state, business leaders, technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.
Watch the full conversation here: How is the world tackling AI, Davos' hottest topic?
- How AI and deepfakes are being used for malicious reasons ›
- You say you want AI revolution? ›
- AI at the tipping point: danger to information, promise for creativity ›
- The Global South is angry and mistrustful - Ian Bremmer ›
- Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future? - GZERO Media ›
- Microsoft's Teresa Hutson on rebuilding trust in the Age of AI - GZERO Media ›
AI in 2024: Will democracy be disrupted?
Marietje Schaake, International Policy Fellow, Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and former European Parliamentarian, co-hosts GZERO AI, our new weekly video series intended to help you keep up and make sense of the latest news on the AI revolution. In this episode, she shares her reflection on AI in 2023.
Hello, this is GZERO AI. My name is Marietje Schaake. It's the end of the year, and so it's the time for lists. As we see so many top fives, top threes, top tens of the key developments in AI, I thought I would just share a couple of reflections. Not list them, just look back on this year, which was remarkable in so many ways.
We saw a huge explosion of discussion around AI governance. Are companies, the ones that can take on all this responsibility of assessing risk, or deciding when to push new research onto the market, or as illustrated by the dramatic saga at OpenAI, are companies not in a good position to make all these decisions themselves and to sort of design checks and balances all in-house? Governments agree. I don't think they want to let these decisions to the big companies, and so they are really stepping up across the board and across the globe. We've only recently, in the last days of this year, seen the political agreement around the EU AI Act, a landmark law that will really set a standard in the democratic world for governing AI in a binding fashion. But there were also a lot of voluntary code of conduct, as we saw at the G7, statements that came out of the AI Safety Summit like the Bletchley Park Declaration, and there was the White House's executive order to add to the many initiatives that were taken in an attempt to make sure that AI developments at least respect the laws that are on the book, if not make new ones where needed.
Now, what I thought was missing quite a bit, looking at the AI Safety Summit, for example, but also in discussions in my home country, the Netherlands, there were elections where AI did not feature at all in the political debate. Is a better discussion, more informed, and more anticipatory about job displacement? I think it is potentially a most devastating and most disruptive development, and yet we don't really hear so much about it short of reports by consulting firms that predict macroeconomic benefits over the long run. But if you look at the political fallout of job displacement and the need to have resources, for example, to reskill and retrain people. There is a need for a much more public debate and maybe even to start talking about the T-word, namely taxing AI companies.
What I also think is missing still, despite having had more reference to the Global South, is true engagement of people from all over the world, not just from the most advanced economies, but really, to have a global engagement with people to understand their lived experiences and needs with regard to the rollout of AI. Because even if people do not have agency over what AI decides about them, there will still be impact even if people are not even online yet. So I think it is incredibly important to have a more global, inclusive, and equal discussion with people from all over the world, and that will be something I'll be looking out for the year 2024.
What I also think is missing still, despite having had more reference to the Global South, is true engagement of people from all over the world, not just from the most advanced economies, but really, to have a global engagement with people to understand their lived experiences and needs with regard to the rollout of AI. Because even if people do not have agency over what AI decides about them, there will still be impact even if people are not even online yet. So I think it is incredibly important to have a more global, inclusive, and equal discussion with people from all over the world, and that will be something I'll be looking out for the year 2024.
And then last, and certainly not least, 2024 has been called the Year of Democracy. I hope we will say the same when we look back a year from now. There will be an unprecedented amount of people going to the polls, and there are still a lot of question marks about how disruptive AI is going to be for the public debate, the political debate, new means of manipulating, sharing disinformation with synthetic media that is really, really hard to distinguish from authentic human-uttered expressions. Really, the combination of AI and elections, AI and democracy deserves a lot more attention and will probably draw attention in the year where billions of people will take to the polls, 2024.
For now, let me wish you a happy holiday season with friends and few screens, I hope. And we will see each other again afresh in the new year. Happy New Year and happy holidays.
- AI explosion, elections, and wars: What to expect in 2024 ›
- The world of AI in 2024 ›
- ChatGPT and the 2024 US election ›
- How AI threatens elections ›
- AI, election integrity, and authoritarianism: Insights from Maria Ressa ›
- How to protect elections in the age of AI - GZERO Media ›
- When AI makes mistakes, who can be held responsible? - GZERO Media ›
- AI's potential to impact election is cause for concern - EU's Eva Maydell - GZERO Media ›
"Access is a fundamental right" - Digital activist Vilas Dhar
The world is fast becoming increasingly digital, with 60% of global GDP driven by digital participation, but over two billion people still lack basic connectivity access.
Vilas Dhar, a leading activist for a more equitable tech-enabled world, emphasizes three elements contributing to this divide: connectivity, data gaps, and technical capacity.
“Access is a fundamental right and not something to be solved by delivering a last mile piece of fiber or connectivity.” he commented during a Global Stage livestream event at UN headquarters in New York on September 22, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Dhar also acknowledges the growing concern of artificial intelligence and the question of who will lead regulation.
“We live in a world where AI is in every headline, and we absolutely acknowledge that the vast majority of AI capacity is held in private sector tech companies. This is in and of itself a digital divide.”
The discussion was moderated by Nicholas Thompson of The Atlantic and was held by GZERO Media in collaboration with the United Nations, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, and the Early Warnings for All initiative.
Watch the full Global Stage conversation: Can data and AI save lives and make the world safer?
- Should internet be free for everyone? A Global Stage debate ›
- The fight to “connect every last person” to the internet ›
- COVID upended the job market & focused employers on skills ›
- 2 billion new internet users joined in 5 years but growth is uneven ›
- US-China tech tensions: the impact on the global digital landscape ›
- The digitalization divide: opportunities and challenges in emerging markets ›
The Global South is angry and mistrustful - Ian Bremmer
Frustrated with the lack of equitable access to vaccines, economic challenges, and climate change impacts while wealthier countries fail to fulfill their pledges, the Global South is angry and mistrustful, said Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, during a Global Stage livestream event at UN headquarters in New York on September 22, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
"They feel like their agenda is irrelevant, that they are the takers, not in any way the collaborators or makers on the rule space and how we're going to deal with global governance challenges," Bremmer says.
Its leaders, however, have already started acting to position themselves as key players in the global governance discussions. Before the United Nations General Assembly, dozens of world leaders met for the first-ever Africa Climate Summit in a bid to take agency. They are set to advance the conversation at the COP28 in Dubai next month.
The discussion was moderated by Nicholas Thompson of The Atlantic. It was held by GZERO Media in collaboration with the United Nations, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, and the Early Warnings for All initiative.
Dive into the conversation to learn about how countries like Brazil and India are shaping the AI space: Can data and AI save lives and make the world safer?
- What Africa has to say about climate change ›
- Ukraine’s war and the non-Western world ›
- The new BRICS expansion and the Global South agenda ›
- Vaccine diplomacy: China in the Global South ›
- AI for all: Leave no one behind, says Microsoft's Brad Smith - GZERO Media ›
- AI is an opportunity to build trust with the Global South: UN's Amandeep Singh Gill - GZERO Media ›
The digitalization divide: opportunities and challenges in emerging markets
In GZERO’s livestream event presented by Visa, a panel of geotech experts delved into the pivotal role of digitalization in shaping the global economy. One striking revelation emerged: Nearly three-fourths of all new value created by the end of this decade will be rooted in digitalization and digitally enabled business models. This underscores the seismic shift toward a digital-first world. While the prospects of this digital revolution are promising, Alexis Serfaty, director of geotechnology at Eurasia Group, highlighted a stark reality: Over 2.5 billion people still lack access to the Internet, effectively excluding them from the digital economy.
This digital divide poses a substantial risk as the world becomes increasingly digitized. As digital businesses flourish, there is concern that economic disparities could worsen, potentially leading to social instability in some regions.
To learn more about the challenges and opportunities that nation-states face when it comes to digitization, and how it could shape a more inclusive and resilient future, watch the full livestream conversation: