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Ian Bremmer: On AI regulation, governments must step up to protect our social fabric
Seven leading AI companies, including Google, Meta and Microsoft, committed to managing risks posed by the technology, after holding discussions with the US government last May—a landmark move that Ian Bremmer sees as a win.
Speaking in a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media President Ian Bremmer calls tech firms' ongoing conversations with regulators on AI guardrails a "win" but points out that a big challenge with regulation will be that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, as AI impacts different sectors differently. For example, ensuring AI can’t be used to make a weapon is important, “but I want to test these things on societies and on children before we roll them out,” he says.
“We would've benefited from that with social media,” he added.
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?
- The geopolitics of AI ›
- Stop AI disinformation with laws & lawyers: Ian Bremmer & Maria Ressa ›
- Ian Bremmer: How AI may destroy democracy ›
- Podcast: Artificial intelligence new rules: Ian Bremmer and Mustafa Suleyman explain the AI power paradox ›
- EU AI regulation efforts hit a snag ›
- AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act - GZERO Media ›
AI for good, AI for bad: Bringing balance to the force
AI comes with a lot of stigma. Popular storylines in books and movies have trained us to see artificial intelligence as a bad actor that can take control over humanity and destroy us, says Omar Sultan al Olama, the UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.
Minister al Olama, speaking in a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, highlights that in the UAE, AI development isn't just focused on productivity and economic gains, but on its potential to improve quality of life. One way to flip the script on AI as simply a scary tech straight out of a sci-fi thriller? Create more content that sheds light on AI's upsides, says al Olama.
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?
- Episode 7: How AI is changing our economy ›
- Azeem Azhar explores the future of AI ›
- Staving off "the dark side" of artificial intelligence: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed ›
- How AI can be used in public policy: Anne Witkowsky ›
- Will consumers ever trust AI? Regulations and guardrails are key ›
- Podcast: Talking AI: Sociologist Zeynep Tufekci explains what's missing in the conversation ›
AI's potential to impact election is cause for concern - EU's Eva Maydell
EU Parliamentarian Eva Maydell says AI's potential impact on the world's biggest year of elections keeps her up at night. And it's a valid worry—AI's ability to create and disseminate deceptive content at lightning speed means our society can be divided and radicalized faster than ever.
Speaking in a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, EU Parliamentarian Evan Maydell shares her concerns about the weaponization of AI and other emerging technologies in such a massive global election year.
“I'm worried about deceptive content that can be created faster, can be disseminated faster, and it can divide, and it can radicalize our society,” she said.
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?
Graphic Truth: Davos doomsdayers
The World Economic Forum asked 1,490 experts from the worlds of academia, business, and government, as well as the international community and civil society to assess the evolving global risk landscape.
These leaders hailed from 113 different countries and the results show a deteriorating global outlook over the next 10 years, with the number of people who responded that the “global catastrophic risks [are] looming” jumping from 3% over the next 2 years to 17% over the next 10.
But after a year of lethal conflicts from Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan, record-breaking heat, with both droughts and wildfires, and polarization on the rise, can you blame them for being worried?
How is the world tackling AI, Davos' hottest topic?
It’s the big topic at Davos: What the heck are we going to do about artificial intelligence? Governments just can’t seem to keep up with the pace of this ever-evolving technology—but with dozens of elections scheduled for 2024, the world has no time to lose.
GZERO and Microsoft brought together folks who are giving the subject a great deal of thought for a Global Stage event on the ground in Switzerland, including Microsoft’s Brad Smith, EU Member of Parliament Eva Maydell, the UAE’s AI Minister Omar Sultan al Olama, the UN Secretary’s special technology envoy Amandeep Singh Gill, and GZERO Founder & President Ian Bremmer, moderated by CNN’s Bianna Golodryga.
The opportunities presented by AI could revolutionize healthcare, education, scientific research, engineering – just about every human activity. But the technology threatens to flood political discourse with disinformation, victimize people through scams or blackmail, and put people out of work. A poll of over 2,500 GZERO readers found a 45% plurality want to see international cooperation to develop a regulatory framework.
The world made great strides in AI regulation in 2023, perhaps most prominently in the European Union’s AI Act. But implementation and enforcement are a different game, and with every passing month, AI gets more powerful and more difficult to rein in.
So where do these luminaries see the path forward? Tune in to our full discussion from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, above.
- Davos 2024: AI is having a moment at the World Economic Forum ›
- Be very scared of AI + social media in politics ›
- The AI power paradox: Rules for AI's power ›
- Davos 2024: China, AI & key topics dominating at the World Economic Forum ›
- Accelerating Sustainability with AI: A Playbook ›
- AI's impact on jobs could lead to global unrest, warns AI expert Marietje Schaake - GZERO Media ›
Global Stage at Davos 2024: live premiere tomorrow at 11 am ET
Join Microsoft and GZERO Media for the premiere of Making AI Work for the World tomorrow, January 18 at 11 am ET/8 am PT/5 pm CET, recorded live at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this morning.
Bianna Golodryga, Anchor & Senior Global Affairs Analyst at CNN, moderated the Global Stage discussion about the rapid development of AI technologies and the race to regulate them with Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President, Microsoft; Ian Bremmer, President & Co-founder, Eurasia Group & GZERO Media; Eva Maydell, Member of European Parliament, Bulgarian politician, Speaker for the EU Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence; Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Tech Envoy; and Omar Sultan al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.
Watch the live premiere at gzeromedia.com/globalstage.
Davos 2024: China, AI & key topics dominating at the World Economic Forum
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here in Davos, Switzerland, for the kickoff of the World Economic Forum, 54th annual, though I haven’t been coming for quite that long. Lots going on here, of course, lots of concerns given ongoing wars as backdrop.
The big story so far, I would say, is that the Chinese are in force, 140 members of the delegation, ten ministers showing up, all with economic portfolios, and they want to engage. This is about a near state visit with the Swiss government, a trade agreement, and basically talking to a bunch of foreign direct investors, many of whom are saying, “Hey, we don't think you guys are so investible; we're going more into India and Vietnam and Mexico.” And the Chinese recognizing that they need to put up and make life easier for them. That has been interesting.
The Americans, especially the American government, very skeptical about all of this, of course, but in the near-term at least, don't have a major crisis, especially on the back of recent Taiwan elections. A lot of people are expecting a crisis there. Both sides trying to manage it. On the more negative camp, Ukrainian President Zelensky coming shortly. 83 states participated in an effort at some kind of peace negotiations just yesterday. Perfectly friendly meeting, absolutely no movement towards any diplomacy. The Russians aren't there, the Chinese aren't there, and the Ukrainians aren't going to accept anything that's remotely acceptable to the Russians as a party. What that means, of course, is that the Ukrainians are feeling increasingly desperate, that they need to make sure they get the support to defend themselves at a time that the Europeans are worried about spending the money and the Americans are divided about spending the money.
A little good news there, Senator Chris Murphy was supposed to be part of the big congressional delegation that comes to Davos every year from the US, didn't show up at the last minute. The reason is because they are working and making progress to get that additional budget deal done in Washington that would provide for some border security money, also provide for money, $60 billion for Ukraine, help them defend themselves in 2024. It's not what Trump wants to see, but he's not the Republican nominee yet, so the consequence is there is still movement.
Other final thing here that's getting a lot of a lot of attention is artificial intelligence. Of course, because it's the World Economic Forum, you mostly have people that are selling their new companies, but there's a lot of money behind them, a lot of enthusiasm. And unlike most flavor of the month type technologies, this is affecting pretty much every company in every sector here. So you can't go to a corporation or a bank and not have an AI related conversation as part of your bilateral. That's pretty interesting. 15 years of coming here, I've never seen anything like it. I'm kind of optimistic. Even though the technology is moving a lot faster than the governments.
Anyway, that's it kicking off this week at the World Economic Forum. I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll talk to you all real soon.
- China flirts with deflation. Why is that a bad thing? ›
- We need to talk about China’s economy ›
- China’s economy in trouble ›
- Ian Explains: Why China’s era of high growth is over ›
- Why is Xi Jinping willing to slow down China’s economy? ›
- Davos 2024: AI is having a moment at the World Economic Forum - GZERO Media ›
- Ukraine pushes to stay top of mind at Davos 2024 - GZERO Media ›
- How is the world tackling AI, Davos' hottest topic? - GZERO Media ›
Overview of the Congress Center ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, December 7, 2023.
GZERO hits the Alps in Davos
It’s your favorite time of year again – if you’re a titan of thought leadership or a yodeler, that is. That’s right, the World Economic Forum kicks off in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday.
GZERO will be in the Swiss Alps to bring you the latest from discussions between the world’s government and business leaders, and we will be sending you special editions of the GZERO Daily over the next three Sundays. They will be filled with sparkling analysis of the summit’s main themes and discussions, video interviews, and Q&As.
Here’s a sneak peek:
“Rebuilding Trust” is the overarching theme of the 2024 conference, going beyond usual discussions of solutions to look at ways of boosting transparency, accountability, and hope for a better tomorrow.
It dovetails nicely with the hot new kid on the block: artificial intelligence. OpenAI CEO and vaunted AI guru Sam Altman will participate in a panel on safety and trust in technology (alongside this reporter’s old boss, certified Davos superstar Fareed Zakaria). One of the conference’s pillars is “Artificial intelligence as a driving force for the economy and society,” but the world’s efforts to regulate this dynamic new technology are falling far behind its exponentially growing power.
In world politics, the heaviest hitters will be French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese Premiere Li Qiang, who will each give a special address. But Macron is the only G7 leader attending — perhaps a sign that palling around in the snow with the rich and famous isn’t winning too many votes these days.
The Biden administration is dispatching top deputies, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Sullivan is expected to attend a conference of peer national security advisors from allied states that will focus on a 10-point peace plan originally drafted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
We’ll be there for you through every step of the action. Tschüss!