Measuring and Visualizing AI

AI is going to affect us all and everyone has opinions about it. But what does the data say?

In this episode of Policy Prompt, hosts Vass Bednar and Paul Samson welcome Nestor Maslej from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, where he is the research manager of the AI Index and the Global AI Vibrancy Tool. In developing tools that track the advancement of AI, Maslej hopes to make the AI space more accessible to policy makers, business leaders and the lay public.

Maslej discusses the excitement and fears surrounding this fast-moving technology and the importance of quantitative data in AI myth busting. “At the Index, we really feel that to make good decisions about this tech, whether you are in a boardroom, in a Parliament, or simply sitting in your living room, you need to have access to data and you have to actually understand what is going on with this technology.”

Fast payment systems, digital platforms that facilitate instant, secure transactions with minimal fees promote financial access for underbanked populations and provide a seamless way for individuals and businesses to transfer funds. Digital currencies, particularly stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, are another innovation in the global financial landscape.

In this policy brief, S. Yash Kalash writes that the potential for coexistence between fast payment systems and digital currencies presents a significant opportunity to enhance the global finance ecosystem. While competition may arise between these systems, collaboration would yield far greater benefits by combining the strengths of both technologies. Kalash explores the potential for this coexistence and outlines policy recommendations to facilitate integration.

William Burke-White and Benjamin Gwyn Williams consider how space governance frameworks — largely unchanged since the 1980s — are likely to fare in modern times.

Analyzing recent developments in the space policies of the United States, China and Russia, Burke-White and Williams argue in their new paper that existing governance systems are no longer fit for purpose and that real change is necessary to account for the commercial, technological and military interests now emerging in tandem with a new geopolitical order. They offer recommendations and identify opportunities for global powers to develop a revised and more robust governance regime.

“When an unnamed US negotiator allegedly threatened Ukraine with ‘either sign the minerals deal, or we’ll shut down Starlink,’ it demonstrated how swiftly digital infrastructure can transform from lifeline to leverage. That moment marks not an aberration but the emergence of a new paradigm in geopolitical competition: the deliberate weaponization of digital dependency.”

In this commentary, Rafal Rohozinski outlines the increasingly evident strategic implications of this dependency.

“To put it bluntly: Under Donald Trump, the United States has become a source of global instability.”

In this opinion, James A. Haley says that the intent of this chaos is to elevate the United Sates by pushing the rest of the world down: “It’s the goal of a bully, empowered by a malaise of misinformation.” As with any epidemiological threat, Haley writes, prudence dictates that potential vectors of transmission be closed, but these precautions need not entail hostile actions: “They simply require recognizing that since US participation in international fora is likely to be unproductive at best and disruptive at worst, progress is more likely to be achieved without American involvement.”

Apr. 8 – 7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC–04:00) – Waterloo, Canada: Disinformation continues to threaten democratic institutions and undermine public trust in Canada, with growing impact. Join us in person the evening of April 8 at the CIGI Auditorium for “Battle for the Truth: Protecting Canadians from Dis- and Misinformation,” a discussion hosted by the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) in partnership with CIGI.

The event begins with a keynote address by Siim Kumpas, head of the Policy, Strategy, and Global Priority Issues Team within the Strategic Communication Division of the European External Action Service, followed by an in-depth panel discussion with Canadian experts moderated by BSIA Director Ann Fitz-Gerald.

The evening offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading experts on the future of Canada’s information resilience. Learn more about the speakers and reserve your ticket now.

“As a 19-year-old student at the University of Toronto, sitting in the balcony of Convocation Hall, I watched my professor bring to life his course about human rights online by demonstrating a tool he had helped build that could compare search results from google.com and its Chinese counterpart, google.cn. Typing in terms like ‘Tank Man’ and ‘Tiananmen Square’ — and seeing the real-time divergence in results — brought a spotlight onto a world many of us had not seen before.”

In this opinion, Matt Malone discusses a new book from that professor, Ron Deibert (Chasing Shadows: Cyber Espionage, Subversion, and the Global Fight for Democracy), and how Deibert’s Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy has “worked tangibly to make the online world safer for us all.”