Davos Diary: Saturday 23 January
Davos is wrapping up today on issues of peace and security. As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution and with technological innovation moving at high speed, we are soon going to be facing new realities that we cannot even envisage. This means challenges for governments, business and for society as a whole.
We need to keep up with the ever-increasing speed of change and redefine our policy frameworks and the legal agreements that govern the use of new technologies, particularly in warfare. The debate around artificial intelligence is gaining traction as boundaries between humans and machines blur. The thought of technology getting out of hand and the consequences of technological advancement is not just science-fiction, but can become reality.
At the same time, it is exciting to imagine a world of new possibilities brought by technological innovation and how it can shape our world for the better. But it is key not to overlook the risks and to have a good sense of the measures we need to take in order to not shoot ourselves in the foot! The question of lethal autonomous weapons -also called killer robots- is just one important example. I firmly believe that we cannot allow for a world where the decision to end a human life is decided by a machine. Ethical and human rights considerations need to be taken into account in all relevant conversations that will be shaping the future use of technology in warfare and of artificial intelligence.
Innovation is like the genie in the bottle. Once it is out you cannot put it back. Hence the need to make sure we foster innovation for good and not the other way around. It may sound cliché, but world peace depends on this. As I was writing on Wednesday, peace is more than the absence of war and if technological innovation is to be permeating so many aspects of peace and security, from warfare to cyber-security, it should be a matter of concern to us all. But ensuring peace also goes beyond governing technology in the battlefield. It is about stewarding innovation and technologies to lift people out of poverty and particularly address inequality, because as Klaus Schwab pointed out "inequality will be one of the greatest challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution".
The future is unfolding before our eyes at faster speeds than ever before and the world is counting on innovators, business leaders, policy-makers and experts to keep an eye on what will affect us. The media also has a key role to play in making sure these development do not happen under the radar. From the debate we saw this week, I hope that we may be able to look back at 2016 and see that we began to deliver on our collective promises and lay the foundation for a safer and more peaceful future where the Global Goals are fully achievable.
WEF ended today but we are off to a good start.