GO Reflections: Our World Economic Forum Experience
This January, four of our Green Office team members had the opportunity to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, sponsored by Franklin’s Student Government Association. Grace Meller, Jordan King, Sonya Strauss, and Kate Taylor attended the final two days of the week-long event. They sat in on panels, talks, and discussions at “tents” or “houses” related to a vast variety of subjects and interests. Examples of these tents are the SDG tent, CBNC’s Filecoin Sanctuary, the AI House, the World Women Foundation, and the Open Forum. These houses covered a wide variety of topics, from environmental issues, art, health, economics, journalism, global conflict, and more. Students noted the forum had a strong focus on artificial intelligence this year, expanding their understanding and challenging their previous assumptions about the topic. Grace Meller, for example, reflected “The core of the WEF seemed to be business and technology. The focus on AI was undeniable, as AI was brought up in almost every session. The incorporation of AI was very interesting, and I had a few moments in which I was presented with information that challenged some of my previous apprehensions about AI. Beyond AI, the experience seemed to differ by house. The World Woman Foundation was very focused on the empowerment of women economically. The houses held panels but also catered to many networking opportunities and general exchange of ideas among participants.”
Both these topics- empowerment for women and artificial intelligence- struck a cord for other students attending too. Sonya Strauss shared “The experience was empowering because I got to listen to women in world leadership positions, including Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the first woman to be the Prime Minister of Denmark, and hear about their experiences and how they trailblazed in their careers. Additionally, a big topic of discussion throughout the WEF was AI, and it was interesting to hear how AI technology can be used sustainably. In fact, at the SDG tent Dream Pitch at Dawn, I got to hear from three entrepreneurs on how they are using AI to help reach the SDGs through projects that work towards forest restoration, water security, and food security.” Another student, Kate Taylor, expanded on this subject: “Before WEF, I was unaware of how AI is utilized to make industry, business, healthcare, and agriculture more sustainable. The first lecture I attended was hosted by the SDG House, where they highlighted three entrepreneurs who have integrated AI into their business models. For example, one of the entrepreneurs uses robots to collect video footage and data on water pipelines throughout major cities. The robots allow his company to efficiently examine the quality of the pipes and identify areas that are hazardous to human health. With this advanced technology, the company has been able to restore the water pipes in Dubai incredibly efficiently, saving millions from water-borne illnesses.” Jordan King added, “The panels I was able to attend further developed and shaped how I see the role of AI going forward. I see more clearly now the connection between these emerging technologies and sustainability, equality, and other key issues. For example, one of the most impactful panels I attended discussed how AI could be used to close the gender gap in health data, which would further improve medical care and science for women. After that panel, the potential for AI to both be a tool for equality and advancement, but also division, inequality, and exploitation were present in my mind, leaving me with much to think about.”
However, Meller also reflected on subjects underdeveloped in these conversations, saying “Many of the panel topics seemed to be presented in a way that focused the discussion around one or two areas and didn’t tie in relevant social and environmental discussions. For example, some panels at the World Woman Foundation, despite discussing the valuable role of women, left out other social implications of the solutions they were proposing. My feelings looking back on the WEF are very conflicting, as some events made me feel that no one was drawing the necessary links between world problems and pertinent areas of study. On the other hand, I was encouraged by the few examples I saw of interdisciplinary approaches. By far my favorite event I attended was at the SDG tent, titled, ‘Impacts of Global Tipping Points on the Agricultural Sector’. The event presented the appropriate scientific background on climate change and the agricultural sector, followed by a panel where speakers with a wide variety of backgrounds discussed current global issues with a multifaceted approach, examining the role of science, policy, and business. This panel brought forward real, attainable solutions that considered all the stakeholders of the future of agriculture and our world!” Speaking on the same panel and the multifaceted, intersectional nature and approaches to environmental problems, Taylor added “One point that stood out to me during this conservation was how interconnected our food supply chain is. If one location on the supply chain is damaged or destroyed, the entire system becomes highly vulnerable. We must diversify how we grow our food and where we get our food from to create a more resilient food supply system. One of the young panelists also emphasizes how critical it is to listen to indigenous knowledge, especially regarding local agricultural production. Through agribusiness and globalization, we have lost intergenerational knowledge about the land. Many traditional farming practices are incredibly sustainable but have been replaced by monoculture and pesticide-induced industrial agriculture. This conservation reminded me that sustainability can often be remembering a valuable practice rather than inventing something new.
Reflecting on a different panel but coming away with similar takeaways, Strauss added “The World Economic Open Forum panel, ‘On Thin Ice’, was another intriguing discussion about the concerns surrounding the loss of arctic summer sea ice and how to get people who are not in the regions directly surrounding the Arctic to care about the issue. A big takeaway from the panel was the interconnectedness of different ecosystems and that the loss of arctic sea ice affects all ecosystems including alpine regions in Switzerland and the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil.” These themes, the interconnectedness of issues and the balancing of the environmental, technological, economic, and social concerns were echoed by all the students who attended the forum. King stated, “My greatest reservation going into the WEF was that every discussion would focus on profit first and people after, but I was more hopeful after some of the panels I was able to attend. The first panel was very much focused on women’s empowerment, for example, but only in an economic sense and only for women with economic power. However, many of the other speakers I was able to hear from were able to balance competing interests when it comes to these issues. Going back to AI, this technology is a great example because it has so much potential but also is not equally accessible to all communities. One speaker I did not expect to see there who discussed that idea was Will. I Am, who talked about his non-profit expanding technical education for underprivileged youth to help close that gap as we move to a more AI-centric world.”
Although our GO team was not expecting to hear so much about artificial intelligence and did have their criticisms for the event, it was an enriching experience for all four of them! They were able to learn about topics they had previously not considered too greatly, hear from engaging speakers from diverse backgrounds and representing a variety of areas of knowledge, and network with other attendees at different panels and events. Grace, Jordan, Kate, and Sonya surely won’t forget this experience anytime soon!