Carnegie Council Audio Podcast

In this episode of the AI for Information Accessibility podcast, host Ayushi Khemka discusses the deep history behind artificial intelligence with László Z. Karvalics, founding director of the BME-UNESCO Information Society and Trend Research Institute. Their conversation touches on the Google/AI sentience debate, information preservation, social media, and the concept of “intelligence augmentation.” The AI4IA podcast series is in association with the Artificial Intelligence for Information Accessibility 2022 Conference on September 28, which will commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information. The AI4IA Conference and the podcast series are also being hosted in collaboration with AI4Society and the Kule Institute for Advanced Studies, both at the University of Alberta; the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation in India; and the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica. To register for the conference, click here.

In two years, two-thirds of the world's population may face water shortages that will lead to crises of epic proportions from water refugees to potential armed conflicts over water supply. Yet the global water crisis does not typically get regular press attention. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education's Dr. Susanne Schmeier speaks with Doorstep co-hosts, Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin about how we can frame water crises discussions and begin to work on solutions. What trade-offs must be made? Can the United States and United Nations, whose annual meetings begin in New York City next week, do more? How will next year's UN Water Conference set a new agenda? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

In this introduction to the new AI for Information Accessibility podcast, host Ayushi Khemka discusses the goals of Artificial Intelligence for Information Accessibility 2022 Conference with Cordel Green, UNESCO's Information for All Programme (IFAP) Working Group on Information Accessibility chair. "We can and must insist on AI development, deployment, and access that is respectful of our human rights and protects the most vulnerable," says Green. "Artificial intelligence must be used to preserve our democratic and cultural traditions and not work against them." The AI4IA podcast series is in association with the Artificial Intelligence for Information Accessibility 2022 Conference on September 28, which will commemorate the International Day for Universal Access to Information. The AI4IA Conference and the podcast series are also being hosted in collaboration with AI4Society and the Kule Institute for Advanced Studies, both at the University of Alberta; the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy at the Observer

What will it take to stop Russia’s President Vladimir Putin? Few have seen his wrath as closely as American-born British financier Bill Browder, who was the largest foreign investor in Russia until investigations led by his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky exposed massive corruption and misconduct by Russian officials leading all the way to Putin. After Magnitsky's murder in a Moscow jail, Browder continued to advocate for justice, becoming Putin's next target, a story he tells in his latest book Freezing Order and in this Book Talk with Doorstep co-hosts Tatiana Serafin and Nikolas Gvosdev. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Carnegie New Leader Geoff Schaefer leads a lively conversation with Reid Blackman about his new book Ethical Machines: Your Concise Guide to Totally Unbiased, Transparent, and Respectful AI. Blackman cuts through the common jargon to deliver a clear and tangible approach to AI ethics. The conversation covers everything from "ethical nightmares" to the myth that ethical facts don't–and can't–exist. This episode is full of tips and tricks on how to think about the core ethical challenges in AI.  Reid Blackman is the founder and CEO of Virtue, an AI ethical risk consultancy, and volunteer chief ethics officer for the non-profit Government Blockchain Association. His work, which includes providing guidance to the likes of AWS, US Bank, Citibank, the FBI, NASA, and the World Economic Forum, has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

In this Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen is joined by Asia Society Policy Institute's Elina Noor for a talk on how we frame discussions on AI ethics and governance matters. They also speak about the importance of the social justice aspect of technology and the digital landscape in Southeast Asia. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Might the world we live in be a simulation? Are the virtual environments being created real or illusions? What are the prospects for creating artificial consciousness? New York University's David Chalmers and Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow Wendell Wallach discuss Reality+, Chalmers' latest book, which probes the vast array of philosophical and ethical challenges posed by virtual reality and enhanced reality.

How could the world change if the dynamism of India's rise is connected to the wealth and resources of the Gulf states and the technological powerhouse of Israel? Could a new Indo-Abrahamic corridor that connects South Asia with the Middle East and East Africa through to the Mediterranean be a major game-changer for the world of the 21st century? Middle East Institute's Mohammed Soliman joins The Doorstep this week to discuss all of this and more. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

The return of great power rivalry—whether U.S. versus Russia or U.S. versus China—has recreated the sense that nuclear war is possible. But what is the actual threat versus perceived threat and how can we manage our collective anxiety? Brandeis University's Professor Gary Samore, joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss how nuclear deterrence fosters restraint and caution, and the hope that a protracted Russia-Ukraine war will not tip the scales. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

In the midst of declining domestic approval ratings and skyrocketing inflation, President Biden heads to the Middle East to re-imagine U.S. regional relationships and counter China's and Russia's growing influence.  NYU's SPS Center for Global Affairs Assistant Dean Carolyn Kissane returns to speak with Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin about the trade-offs Biden must make in energy, climate, and human rights discussions. How will Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 'countries to watch' Israel and UAE affect U.S. policy in the short and long-term? Will this trip be a win or loss for Biden? For more "Doorstep" podcasts, visit carnegiecouncil.org.

In a candid conversation, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, talks with Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal about her role in the UN, the importance of "kindness" in diplomacy, diversity in the Foreign Service, and much more. How do China and the U.S. work together at the UN? How has diplomacy changed under President Biden? And how can the UN stay relevant in 2022? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

In this Global Ethics Review podcast, Senior Fellow Arthur Holland Michel discusses facial recognition systems, loitering munitions, and drones in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and analyzes their use on the battlefield and in the larger narrative of the conflict. As Russia's tactics become increasingly brutal while utilizing more traditional weapons, what effects are these technologies really having on the war? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

As the fifth month of Russia's invasion of Ukraine begins, Atlantic Council's Melinda Haring returns to speak with Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin about on-the-ground realities in Ukraine and how the West needs to manage Putin's long war game. What more is needed from leaders attending G7 and NATO meetings this week? And how can "compassion fatigue" be countered to help Ukraine meet the challenges of the second phase of a more brutal war? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

For decades, American nonprofits and philanthropies worked with Chinese citizens and the Chinese Communist Party. But over the last several years especially, the space for foreign NGOs to operate in China has increasingly shrunk due to COVID restrictions, paranoia about Western influence, and an American public suspicious of Beijing. Should nonprofits and philanthropies continue to engage with a China ruled by an increasingly hostile Party? Freedom House's Michael Abramowitz and Strategy Risks' Isaac Stone Fish discuss this question and much more in this podcast.  For more, please go to carengiecouncil.org. 

In this Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow Wendell Wallach is joined by Angela Kane, a chair of the United Nations University Governing Council, to discuss how AI is likely to upend geopolitics. Kane, a former UN under-secretary-general, also shares some of her concerns about the role of the UN and the many ways AI could undermine international peace and security. Without proper guardrails, the development and deployment of AI systems could accelerate the pace of armed conflict and risk loosening control over the means of war. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Inflation and a bear market are dominating headlines. Efforts to curb costs and boost markets, like the Ocean Shipping Reform Act—which President Biden is set to sign—should help. Logistics analyst Peter Sand returns to speak with Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin about what else can be done in the the face of unexpected obstacles to global trade like China's slide back into lockdowns and a fourth month of war in Ukraine. What trade-offs will U.S. consumers have to make in the short and long-term? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Countries in the Arab region are seeking substitutes to oil so they can diversify their economies and mitigate the impact of fossil fuels production. “They realize that the emissions that are coming up from the production of oil are not acceptable and they have a moral obligation and responsibility at the global level to reduce their emissions,” says UNESCWA's Rola Dashti during a  C2GTalk. The war in Ukraine has increased energy prices impacting livelihoods globally. In the Arab region this has resulted in billions of dollars of gross domestic product losses. Now we see why energy security is so important at the global level and why climate finance is crucial to support developing countries in their green transition. Rola Dashti, executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), is a leading Kuwaiti economist and long-time champion of women’s rights, gender equality, and democratic reform, before moving to ESCWA in 2019. For more, please go to C2G's website.

More research and better governance is needed to help developing countries make decisions about solar radiation modification (SRM), says Thelma Krug, vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), during a C2GTalk. SRM has come into focus due to a likely overshoot of the 1.5C warming goal, which would bring increasing risks to people and natural ecosystems, and—depending on the length and extent of overshoot—potentially irreversible impacts. Thelma Krug is a former researcher at the Earth Observation Coordination at the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil, under the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (MCTIC). She was elected vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the Sixth Cycle of Panel (October 2015 – October 2022), after having been co-chair of the IPCC Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories from 2002 until 2015. For more, go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Ahead of NATO's Madrid summit in June, The Washington Institute's Dr. Soner Cagaptay joins Doorstep co-hosts, Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's strategy to reset relations with the West and get what he needs out of potential NATO enlargement. With Turkey's inflation skyrocketing and Gen Z voters threatening to unseat him in next year's nationwide elections, President Erdogan is betting that demanding concessions from Sweden and Finland and staying friendly with Russia may not only strengthen Turkey's national security but also score him points at home. Will this also win him friends in Washington, DC? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

In a fascinating Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen speaks with Kobi Leins about her new book New War Technologies and International Law: The Legal Limits to Weaponising Nanomaterials. How can scientists and policymakers work together to make responsible choices about the use of “nanoscale” materials? What are the implications of this emerging technology for the environment, international security, and current arms control regimes? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.