Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture: Governing artificial intelligence for a better society
Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University
On Thursday 26 October 2023 at 17:00, UNU-MERIT will host 'Governing Artificial Intelligence for a Better Society', the 2023 Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture presented by Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNU Rector.
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The rapid development of artificial intelligence poses a myriad of complex policy challenges that governments around the world are currently struggling with (for example, the UK government has identified twelve challenges of AI governance in a recent interim report). Key governance issues include accountability, transparency, privacy, bias, access to data, safety and intellectual property concerns.
This lecture will delve into ethical frameworks, technical standards and policy interventions necessary for steering the responsible development of AI. Professor Marwala will share his insights around the governance of AI, emphasizing the importance of guiding it in a direction that benefits society while avoiding the risks associated with advanced algorithms and autonomous systems.
About the speaker
Prior to taking up the role of UNU Rector on 1 March 2023, Prof. Marwala served as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) from January 2018 through February 2023. He had previously served as that university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalization (2013–2017) and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (2009–2013).
Prof. Marwala has been a visiting scholar/professor at universities in the USA, the UK, China, and South Africa. He has extensive academic, policy, management and international experience, and is a co-holder of five patents. His research has been multi-disciplinary, involving the theory and applications of artificial intelligence to engineering, social science, economics, politics, finance, and medicine. He has served on a variety of global and national policymaking bodies, and has worked with such United Nations entities as UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and WIPO.
Practical details of the event
Date: Thursday 26 October
Time: 17:00 - 18:30, followed by a reception
Location: Belvedere, UNU-MERIT (Boschstraat 24, Maastricht) and online
Zoom link: https://unu-merit-eu.zoom.us/j/5475937108
The Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture Series
Charles Cooper was the founding director of the Maastricht-based United Nations University Institute for New Technologies, UNU-INTECH (now UNU-MERIT). In 1985, the Dutch government asked him to prepare a feasibility study on the creation of a UNU institute to specialise in the social and economic aspects of new technologies. The report was presented to UNU in 1987 and formed the basis for setting up the new Institute in 1990.
Under his leadership from 1990 to 2000, the Institute expanded rapidly to become the second largest UNU research and training centre. One of his flagship achievements was setting up the Institute's unique PhD programme in the Economics of Technological Change in 1995, in partnership with MERIT (at the University of Maastricht). This sowed the seeds for the integration of the two institutes a decade later to form UNU-MERIT.
UNU-MERIT launched the Charles Cooper Memorial Lecture Series in January 2007, to honour his immense contribution to our understanding of the role of technology in economic development, and the pivotal role he played in forging closer ties between UNU-INTECH and MERIT. The lecture series aims to contribute to a better public understanding of science, technology and innovation in the development process.
Venue: Belvedere, UNU-MERIT (Boschstraat 24, 6211 AX Maastricht) and online
Date: 26 October 2023
Time: 17:00 - 18:30 CEST