Blog

Violations of human rights in the context of the response to COVID-19 are increasingly making the headlines. The right to access information, right to privacy, freedom of movement and assembly, and freedom of expression are some of the basic rights that are being affected by nationwide lockdowns and emergency measures.

The coronavirus has been credited with catalysing a shift from a self-centred ‘I’ society to another-centred ‘we’ society. The focus on individual well-being and material wealth that has shaped many people’s identity and aspirations for the last half century or more has now turned into a concern for morality and the benefits of caring, sharing, and community building.

Diplo’s Conference Tech Lab organised another web discussion focusing on the technological implications of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

While virtual meetings may be nothing new, the recent outbreak of COVID-19, has brought online conferencing into the spotlight. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad term that encompasses high-end technologies capable of ‘performing human-like cognitive processes such as learning, understanding, reasoning and interacting’, according to Szczepanski. Nowadays, societies are exposed to AI through smartphones, virtual assistants, surveillance cameras able of recognising individuals, personalised advertising, and automated cars, to name but a few examples.

In short: 

Digital tools have garnered substantial interest in the context of teaching and training in diplomatic practice. Tools such as video conferences, small online courses, and massive open online courses are changing the landscape of what is possible in the field. Conversations on digital tools for teaching diplomacy are important in order to keep diplomatic teaching and training up to date, offer the best possible experience for participants, and reach those that might have been excluded previously.

November 2019, when the film Bladerunner is set, came and went. How well did this film – made in 1982 – predict the future? Well, we don’t have androids (replicants) that think and look like us, and there are no flying cars (yet). But, technology has progressed greatly, what seemed like science fiction then – video calling for example – is now part of our everyday lives.

The spread of the new coronavirus is testing our globalised world.

The second edition of the course ‘Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance and Policy Frameworks’ offered by DiploFoundation took place from 4 October to 13 December 2019. One of the goals of the course was to combine sound theoretical knowledge with a hands-on approach. This was achieved by proposing practical exercises. An example was the final assignment, in which participants were given the choice to write a blog post on an AI-related topic. The authors of the best blog posts have been offered the opportunity to publish their texts.

‘The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.’

~ Morpheus to Neo, in The Matrix written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999