The World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS) is organising a new series of webinars discussing the interplay and issues arising between “Technology & Human Security”. The initiative comes in support of the global programme launched by the WAAS in January 2023 focusing on “Human Security for All” (HS4A), in partnership with the United Nations Human Security Fund.
Where originally the UN-approved concept of “human security” encompassed only seven dimensions of security – community, ecology, economics, food, health, personal and political – recent global developments have broadened this definition to include, among others, the concept of technological security.
In the first webinar scheduled for May 17th at 18:00, Ivo Šlaus (Honorary President of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences), Garry Jacobs (President and CEO of the Academy), Ketan Patel (Founder and CEO of Greater Pacific Capital) and Walton Stinson (CEO of ListenUp and Prosource) will provide an overview of the reservations the Academy's founders – some of the most notable academic figures of the 20th century – held in relation to the impact of knowledge and emerging technologies on human society as a whole. Furthermore, the event will highlight recent initiatives undertaken by the World Academy of Art & Science in highlighting both the opportunities and challenges posed by technological security (or lack thereof), while providing an opportunity for all participants to identify new perspectives to be debated in future sessions of the programme.
The second webinar, currently scheduled for the first part of June, will discuss the excitement and apprehension manifesting in equal measure around the lightning advances in artificial intelligence occurring today, and will address the need for new global initiatives to examine the opportunities, challenges, risks, threats, ethical issues and governance mechanisms this emerging field raises.
