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Events

Upcoming

13 Dec 2024

Opportunities and challenges of AI in day-to-day leadership

Prof. Silke Schönert (RFH Köln). AI-Upskilling Lunch Series

Using AI tools to optimise team performance, mastering the challenges of digitalisation as a leader.

Time: 12:45 - 13:45

Language: German

Location: Online

15 Jan 2025

AI, global corporations and market power - what should you pay attention to?

Michael Seemann (Consultant). AI-Upskilling Lunch Series

Critical thinking, internet culture, power of platforms.

Time: 12:45 - 13:45

Language: German

Location: Online

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Past key events and highlights

Conflict-Event Prediction for UN Peacekeeping

UN-ETH Partnership and Project

On 17 May 2024, Switzerland organised an ‘Arria-formula’ meeting of the UN Security Council to explore how artificial intelligence could revolutionize UN Peacekeeping. Dr. Sascha Langenbach of the ETH Center for Security Studies (CSS) briefed the UN Security Council on the capacity of machine-learning tools to assist with information processing in UN peace operations.

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This event is part of a larger joint research project between the UN Operations and Crisis Centre (UNOCC) and ETH Zurich's Center for Security Studies (CSS) that aims to explore the feasibility of an event-prediction system for UN peacekeeping. The project combines machine learning with event records collected by UN peacekeepers so as to lay the foundation for a software platform that could support data processing and decision-making procedures within UN peace missions.

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The PIs of this project include Prof. Andreas Wenger (CSS), Prof. Menna El-Assady (Department of Computer Science), and Dr. Sascha Langenbach (CSS).

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Read more by visiting the:

- Briefing at the UN Security Council

- Research Project website

- UN and ETH Zurich Partnership

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As If Human: Living in the Age of Intelligent Machines

On October 23, 2024, Prof. Sir Nigel Shadbolt, a leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence and Professor of Computing Science at the University of Oxford, in conversation with Prof. Dr. Margarita Boenig-Liptsin from ETH, discussed AI's history, current advancements, and the challenges and opportunities presented by today's and future AI systems.

Social Artificial Intelligence

On October 16, 2024, Prof. Nicholas Christakis from Yale University, in dialogue with Prof. Vayena, discussed the implications of integrating artificial intelligence into human social networks, focusing not on the more studied human-machine interactions, but rather asking several key questions around broader implications:

 

  • How might AI reshape human-human interactions and group dynamics?

  • Can our understanding of social network structure and function help assess the impact and ethical implications of social AI on human society?

  • Given the potential of 'dumb AI' to create or reinforce systemic problems, to what extent can we govern it?

  • Assuming we can address issues like nudging, manipulation, transparency, and deception, and use AI tools to encourage collective action, is this the only or the best way to foster human collaboration and coordination?

Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI

Book Talk and Panel Discussion

On June 6, 2024, Prof. Dr. Urs Gasser from TU Munich gave a talk on his book "Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI." Prof. Gasser's presentation, followed by a panel discussion, highlighted the need for human-centered "guardrails" in the digital era.

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The panel featured experts including Prof. Dr. Timo Minssen (University of Copenhagen), Jeremy Rollison (Microsoft), Lukas Walker and Dr. Sara Kijewski (ETH Zurich), moderated by Prof. Dr. Effy Vayena (ETH Zurich). The discussion emphasized the importance of balancing technology with human values to create a more equitable society.

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