This event is hybrid. It will take place at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and online.
- Snacks and a cocktail will be served from 18:00 onwards and the debate will start at 18:30.
- The event will be livestreamed, recorded and photographed and may be shared publicly on the GCSP channels.
AI is rapidly evolving into a transformative force with profound implications for global security and prosperity. As countries grapple with the prospect of advanced AI, there are ideas for new international institutions. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research was founded in Geneva in the aftermath of WWII and remains one of the most powerful examples of international scientific collaboration, providing fundamental research as a global public good.
The idea of a “CERN for AI” was first floated publicly at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva in 2017 by Gary Marcus and remains popular. Projects like InvestAI (public investment for European AI by the EU) and ICAIN (the International Computation and AI Network launched by Switzerland) have relied on the analogy. Still, the ideas for a “CERN for AI” remain ambiguous: Should a “CERN for AI” focus on pooling resources for training frontier AI, AI applications for socially desirable purposes, or fundamental AI (safety) research? Is the goal to build a centralized facility, a distributed network, or a cooperative funding mechanism? Who should be involved and why?
Join us for this Geneva Security Debate to discuss trade-offs and synergies between different goals and ideas for a “CERN for AI” and chart possible paths forward.
Speakers
- Prof Gary Marcus, Cognitive Scientist, Serial Entrepreneur, and Best-Selling Author on AI, including Rebooting AI and Taming Silicon Valley
- Ms Chiara Gerosa, Executive Director, Talos Network
- Prof Mary-Anne Hartley, MD, Ph.D., MPH, Director and Founder, LiGHT: Laboratory for intelligent Global Health and Humanitarian Technologies
- Mr Bálint Pataki, Senior Advanced AI Researcher, Centre for Future Generations in Brussels
- Mr Kevin Kohler, Senior Tech Policy Specialist, Simon Institute
Moderator
- Dr Christina Schori Liang, Head of Counterterrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism, GCSP