lighting, Diplomacy

AI as a Tool for Diplomacy and Mediation

17 May 2022

Geneva and online

Date: Tuesday, 17th May (11:30–13:00 UTC | 13:30–15:00 CEST)

Place: Geneva and online

Registration: 

1. Online participation (join via Zoom)

2. Participation in situ (IHEID – Petal 5 – Conference Centre C1 – map)

This year’s Science Diplomacy Week will take place in Geneva from 16 to 20 May. As part of the programme, Diplo is organising a hybrid event titled ’AI as a Tool for Diplomacy and Mediation’.

AI as a Tool for Diplomacy and Mediation

Diplo is proud to be part of the Geneva Coalition on Anticipatory Science and Diplomacy, a group of 14 Swiss and global institutions which are co-organising Science Diplomacy Week. 

As part of the session, participants will discuss the current and potential future uses of artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for diplomatic practice and peace mediation. The discussion will detail various applications of AI, in particular in the areas of natural-language processing and image recognition. 

Three key topics will be discussed:

  1. Which tools have been developed and demonstrated as pilot projects, and how do they impact the work of diplomats and mediators? 
  2. How can conversations between diplomatic practitioners and the developers of AI applications be facilitated for creating needs-oriented tools? 
  3. Why is it important to have this conversation now and what are some of the current and potential future challenges?

To further the discussion, the first part of the session will include an overview of various tools, such as Diplo’s Speech Generator which supports diplomats in drafting speeches in the area of cybersecurity.

Panellists:

  • Mr Sameer Chauhan (Director, UN International Computing Centre)
  • Dr Andreas Hirblinger (Postdoctoral Researcher, Center on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute, Geneva)
  • Dr Katharina Höne (Director of Research, Diplo)
  • Dr Jovan Kurbalija (Executive Director, Diplo; Head, Geneva Internet Platform (GIP))
  • Mr Marco Liuzzi (Chief, Operations Division, UN International Computing Centre)
  • Mr Jovan Njegić (Head, AI and Data Lab, Diplo)