Artificial Intelligence, COVID, and Global Democratic-authoritarian Competition
Speakers: Chen Weiss, J. (Cornell University); Feldstein, S. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace); Nemitz, P. (Directorate General for Justice and Consumers at the European Commission); Wright, N. (Georgetown University)
Date: 10 November 2020
Speaker Session Summary
SMA hosted a panel discussion as a part of its SMA UK MoD Speaker Series. The panelists included Mr. Paul Nemitz (Principal Advisor, Directorate General for Justice and Consumers at the European Commission), Dr. Nicholas Wright (Georgetown University), Mr. Steven Feldstein (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), and Dr. Jessica Chen Weiss (Cornell University).
Dr. Wright first set the scene on how artificial intelligence (AI) has been reshaping critical systems globally. He explained that AI has contributed to the rise of digital authoritarianism in China. AI has also added to the digitization of liberal democracies in the US and Europe. Nations that have adopted these different models are competing for influence in the global system, in which there are critical swing states that may embrace one model over the other. In other words, there is global competition among states with competing visions regarding how we can digitize. COVID-19 has made all of this more pressing due to the rapid global movement towards digitization over the past 8 months. Dr. Wright then discussed the benefits of surveillance, highlighting that the use of surveillance technologies has been entirely necessary in order to enable the rich, industrialized world’s social and economic progress over the past two centuries. Furthermore, actors can determine possibilities for utilization of surveillance technologies based on their state’s environment. This leads to a central question: How does one establish democratically-accountable rules and norms that provide as much of the upsides of AI-supported surveillance as possible, without creating technological affordances that could facilitate authoritarian concentrations of power?
Mr. Nemitz continued the discussion by emphasizing the importance of technology not only in our individual lives, but also in our communities and the functioning of our democracies. He argued that there is a power concentration issue not only in the US (among a few companies in Silicon Valley), but also globally. The power concentration among these companies will only grow as AI develops, Mr. Nemittz cautioned, making them central to data and information. Knowledge is power, and these companies know how to use and analyze this data to influence. Today, the challenge is no longer to digitize democracy; the challenge is to democratize the digital. This becomes more important as digital tools become increasingly more powerful. There are many public goals of AI and surveillance, but we must put limits on these technological activities in order to preserve creativity through privacy, according to Mr. Nemitz.
Next, Dr. Weiss discussed China’s digital model. China has used COVID-19 as a public relations opportunity to advertise the superiority of its response and pandemic-fighting model. That said, China’s exports are only one part of the story. China is subsidizing and selling these technologies in order to influence states globally and pursue its own model, according to Dr. Weiss. Understanding China’s intentions is critical in assessing the threat that this may pose to the US and its allies, she stated. China’s overriding objective is regime security. It is less interested in forcing countries to reflect its image, but rather, it is focused on achieving regional dominance and securing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authority. Even though China’s technological advancements at home have been primarily driven by the Chinese government’s interest in regime security, these technologies still have international applications, making it easier and more appealing for other countries to use these technologies and potentially follow China’s example. Ultimately, the effects of Chinese-supplied technology depends on local politics, as well as the amount of pushback democratic institutions provide, Dr. Weiss stated.
Mr. Feldstein concluded the discussion by focusing on a survey of global swing states that the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace conducted. He noted that a significant amount of hedging occurs, particularly within countries that are more aligned with China. For example, there is evidence that Thailand was interested in partnering with China in order to access the technologies that China had to offer; however, Thailand also recognized the importance of hedging this relationship, given its strong relations with the US and Israel. There were similar messages coming from the Philippines and Ethiopia as well. In these global swing states, surveillance technologies may have dual-capabilities. For example, the same technologies that could be used in Ethiopia to confront threats from Al-Shabaab could also be used to lock up dissidents who challenge the state. Mr. Feldstein also stated that it is important to note that no other country is pursuing China’s state suppression strategy in a similar way—not even Russia. He then concluded by suggesting that the development and use of surveillance technologies will become an increasing arena for struggle, particularly in swing states and hybrid regimes.
Note: We are aware that many government IT providers have blocked access to YouTube from government machines during the pandemic in response to bandwidth limitations. We recommend viewing the recording on YouTube from a non-government computer or listening to the audio file (below), if you are in this position.
Speaker Biographies
Jessica Chen Weiss (Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University)
Jessica Chen Weiss is an associate professor of Government at Cornell University, a political science editor atthe Washington Post Monkey Cage blog, and a nonresident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies. Weiss is the author of Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China’s Foreign Relations (Oxford University Press,2014). Her research appears in International Organization, China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, Journal ofConflict Resolution, Security Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, and Review of International Political Economy, as wellas in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Quarterly. Weiss was previously an assistantprofessor at Yale University and founded FACES, the Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Stanford, while anundergraduate at Stanford University. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, she received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2008, where her dissertation won the 2009 American Political Science Association Award for bestdissertation in international relations, law and politics. Weiss is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Steven Feldstein (Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Carnegie Endowment forInternational Peace)
Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict andGovernance Program. Previously, he was the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associateprofessor at Boise State University. He served in the Obama administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State forDemocracy, Human Rights and Labor with responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religiousfreedom, and as Director of Policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He has also served as Counsel on theU.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, maintaining oversight of all foreign assistance agencies, budgets and programs.His research interests include the intersection of technology, democracy, and human rights; U.S. foreign policy; and Africapolicy. His articles and commentary have appeared in outlets such as the BBC, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, ForeignPolicy, Journal of Democracy, MIT Technology Review, The National Interest, The Wall Street Journal, War on the Rocks,and The Washington Post. He received his B.A. from Princeton and his J.D. from Berkeley Law. His forthcoming book on theglobal rise of digital repression will come out in April 2021.
Paul Nemitz (Principal Advisor, Directorate General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission)
Paul Nemitz is the Principal Advisor in the Directorate General forJustice and Consumers of the European Commission.He was appointed in April 2017, following a 6-year appointmentas Director for Fundamental Rights and Citizen’s Rights in thesame Directorate General.As Director, Nemitz led the reform of Data Protection legislation inthe EU, the negotiations of the EU – US Privacy Shield and thenegotiations with major US Internet Companies of the EU Code ofConduct against incitement to violence and hate speech on theInternet.He is a Member of Commission for Media and Internet Policy ofthe Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Berlin and avisiting Professor of Law at the College of Europe in Bruges. Nemitz is also a Member of the Board of the Verein GegenVergessen – Für Demokratie e.V., Berlin and a Trustee of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York. He chairs the Board of Trusteesof the Arthur Langerman Foundation, Berlin.Nemitz studied Law at Hamburg University. He passed the state examinations for the judiciary and for a short time was ateaching assistant for Constitutional Law and the Law of the Sea at Hamburg University.He obtained a Master of Comparative Law from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where hewas a Fulbright grantee. He also passed the first and second cycle of the Strasbourg Faculty for Comparative Law. 4Recent publications: “The Human Imperative – Democracy, Law and Ethics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”, forthcoming2021, enhanced translation of “Prinzip Mensch – Demokratie, Recht und Ethik im Zeitalter der Künstlichen Intelligenz, withMatthias Pfeffer, Dietz Verlag, 2020; Critical reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union, S. Garben, I.Govaere and P. Nemitz (Eds.), Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2019.Follow Paul Nemitz on Twitter: @PaulNemitz . He is the #1 Technology influencer and overall #13 influencer on EU issuesin the annual #EUInfluencer Ranking.
Nicholas Wright (Affiliated Scholar, Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University Medical Center)
Dr. Nicholas Wright is an affiliated scholar at Georgetown University, honorary researchassociate at University College London (UCL), Consultant at Intelligent Biology andFellow at New America. His work combines neuroscientific, behavioural and technologicalinsights to understand decision-making in politics and international confrontations, inways practically applicable to policy. He leads international, interdisciplinary projects withcollaborators in countries including China, the U.S., Iran and the UK. He was an Associatein the Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, WashingtonDC and a Senior Research Fellow in International Relations at the University ofBirmingham, UK. He has conducted work for the UK Government and U.S. Departmentof Defense. Before this he examined decision-making using functional brain imaging atUCL and in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics. He wasa clinical neurologist in Oxford and at the National Hospital for Neurology. He haspublished academically (some twenty publications, e.g. Proceedings of the RoyalSociety), in general publications such as the Atlantic and Foreign Affairs, with thePentagon Joint Staff (see www.intelligentbiology.co.uk) and has appeared on the BBCand CNN. Wright received a medical degree from UCL, a BSc in Health Policy fromImperial College London, has Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), hasan MSc in Neuroscience and a PhD in Neuroscience both from UCL.
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