![]() In theory, AI ought to be politically neutral: it can be used for good or bad. Part of the answer is to be found in the rapid development of digital technology, especially artificial intelligence. I have pondered long and hard why this shift took place. Today, China and Russia represent the greatest threats to open societies. Repressive regimes are now ascendant, and open societies are under siege. They also coincided with a period of personal financial success that allowed me to increase my annual giving from $3 million in 1984 to more than $300 million three years later.Īfter the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the tide began to turn against open societies. The effort turned out to be more successful than I expected. I established one foundation after another in rapid succession in what was then the Soviet empire. I wanted to help people who were outraged and fought against oppression. I became engaged in what I call political philanthropy in the 1980s, a time when a large part of the world languished under Communist rule. That’s why I say our civilization may not survive. Other issues that concern all humanity – fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions – have had to take a back seat to this systemic struggle. In an open society, the role of the state is to protect the freedom of the individual in a closed society, the role of the individual is to serve the rulers of the state. Let me define the differences as simply as I can. The world has been increasingly engaged over the past half-decade, or longer, in a struggle between two diametrically opposed systems of governance: open society and closed society. The invasion of Ukraine did not come out of the blue.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |