On 18 December, the first Tsinghua University International Forum on AI Cooperation and Governance was successfully held in the Lecture Hall of the main building of Tsinghua University. With the theme of "International Cooperation and Governance of ai in the Post-pandemic Era", the forum focused on the opportunities and challenges brought by AI technology, shared insights on AI cooperation and governance, exchanged international governance wisdom, and proposed research topics on future AI governance. The forum is hosted by the Institute of Artificial Intelligence International Governance (I-AIIG) at Tsinghua University, with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the international supporting organisation of the forum. Representatives from the Institute of Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua Univeristy (TUSDG) attended the forum.
Honoured Guest
The Forum was given a opening speech by Wang Qinmin, Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, with welcoming speeches by Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University, and Beate Trankmann, UNDP Resident Representative for China, a video message by Fabrizio Hochschild, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a video message by Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and a video message by Xu Jing, Director of the Department of Strategic Planning, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Public of China, Wang Xiaolong, Director of the Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Public of China, Zhu Xiumei, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Public of China, delivered keynote addresses. Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the I-AIIG and the TUSDG, presided over the opening ceremony.
Keynote speech by Prof Xue Lan
In the main forum "International Governance of AI in the Post-pandemic Era - Towards a Resilient Future", Prof. Xue Lan, Dean of Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Director of I-AIIG, and Co-Director of TUSDG, delivered a keynote speech. When talking about the core elements of AI governance, he believed that basic values, governance system, participants, governance targets, and evaluation of effectiveness are all very important. He suggested that many governance problems can be solved by the technology itself, and the biggest challenge facing the development of AI is that AI technology is developing too fast, while the development of governance norms, as a kind of social system, has its own procedure and is slow, so we need "agile governance". Talking about international cooperation, he said, "AI can learn from existing international mechanisms, and continuously strengthen international cooperation in the field of AI in the future, we can find the common ground of all parties in the process of cooperation, and continue to explore, communication, and work together to find common norms and rules of AI, to guide the healthy development of AI, for the benefit of mankind. "
[In the middle of second row] Prof. Zhu Xufeng attended the forum session
Later, in the "AI Governance for Sustainable Development Sub-forum", Professor Zhu Xufeng, Associate Dean of Tsinghua University School of Public Policy & Management and Executive Director of TUSDG, attended the forum and discussed with the guests on the topics of "Potential Benefits and Challenges of AI for Sustainable Development, Policymaking and AI, Inclusion, and Digital Divide". He discussed the potential benefits and challenges of AI for sustainable development, policymaking and AI, inclusiveness, digital divide and other topics with the guests. He said, "The SDGs are interconnected, so we can't just consider the relationship between AI and individual SDGs, but we need to look at and use AI from a holistic perspective to address the challenges of achieving the SDGs as a whole."
The scene of the meeting
The first Tsinghua University International Forum on AI Cooperation and Governance lasted for two days, with five other sub-forums covering topics such as the role of AI in the fight against the Covid-19 Pandemic, AI Governance for Sustainable Development, AI and International Security, AI Governance for International Cooperation, and AI and Data Security. Over 70 guests from more than 60 institutions in the fields of international organisations, governments, universities, research institutes, enterprises and media were invited to attend the conference to discuss the topic. Another over 200 guests were invited to listen to the conference online and participate in the interaction.
