elcoming the Intelligent Age, marked by rapid technological development and innovation, requires resilience, an adaptive mindset, and global collaboration. Global collaboration is essential for growth, innovation, and resilience across industries and societies. The WEF’s five key sub–themes for the 2025 Annual Meeting—rebuilding trust, reimagining growth, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and industries in the Intelligent Age—depend on identifying common ground on which to form the basis of collaboration. Finding common ground and common purpose is essential, especially in the promulgation of regulations and management around rapidly developing technologies like AI, quantum computing, and blockchain. Core to finding that common ground is an imperative for efficacy, ethics, and trust. These technologies must work for people, must be in their interest, and must be transparent and trustworthy—developing standards that work for everybody requires inclusion of all stakeholders. Given these technologies are at the core of the Intelligent Age, finding common ground when it comes to how these technologies should be used is critical to success in all WEF’s sub–themes.
AI technology is already being used for global crisis management and prevention. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is currently using AI to improve real–time crisis assessment, staff deployment, and digital assistance while also investing in early warning systems and creating learning experiences to better manage crises in the future. However, even as this developing technology is becoming critical in addressing humanitarian concerns, global regulations are essential to protect privacy and ensure the ethical usage of AI. One possible means of addressing these concerns is using composite AI, which is itself intrinsically collaborative, consisting of systems built from multiple specialized AI models working together to solve complex problems. Similarly, the AI Governance Alliance serves as a case study for prioritizing collaboration and shared knowledge to mitigate the risks that AI poses.
Quantum technologies will become instrumental in business development and government innovation in the Intelligent Age, and is particularly exciting for the financial sector. But quantum technology brings with it genuine cybersecurity concerns. Cyber resilience is becoming more important than cyber security as cyberattacks become more adaptive to changing technology. To best develop cyber resilience, the WEF created a Quantum Economy Blueprint, emphasizing the need for global collaboration to create value in quantum technologies while preventing a “quantum divide” that allows only certain countries and regions to take advantage of the technology. Common ground again becomes essential for developing regulations and placing nations on equitable footing to best use this evolving technology.
Blockchain will become essential to all developing technology in the Intelligent Age as unified global databases become crucial tools for improving healthcare and combating the climate crisis. Like AI and quantum technology, global cooperation and regulations are essential to protect privacy, ensure ethical usage, and promote cyber resilience.
Ultimately, society must also embrace its humanity to navigate the disruption of rapidly developing technology. Art and travel are two key ways of maintaining this needed humanity among our increasingly data–oriented world. Art and travel rely on finding humanity through shared common ground, even amidst unique experiences and differing cultures. Thus, in the Intelligent Age, society can perhaps best find resiliency through our humanity by prioritizing finding our common ground.
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Finding common ground in the Intelligent Age
January 14, 2025
The Intelligent Age demands global collaboration, ethical technology management, and a focus on humanity, writes Stephanie Gull.
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elcoming the Intelligent Age, marked by rapid technological development and innovation, requires resilience, an adaptive mindset, and global collaboration. Global collaboration is essential for growth, innovation, and resilience across industries and societies. The WEF’s five key sub–themes for the 2025 Annual Meeting—rebuilding trust, reimagining growth, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and industries in the Intelligent Age—depend on identifying common ground on which to form the basis of collaboration. Finding common ground and common purpose is essential, especially in the promulgation of regulations and management around rapidly developing technologies like AI, quantum computing, and blockchain. Core to finding that common ground is an imperative for efficacy, ethics, and trust. These technologies must work for people, must be in their interest, and must be transparent and trustworthy—developing standards that work for everybody requires inclusion of all stakeholders. Given these technologies are at the core of the Intelligent Age, finding common ground when it comes to how these technologies should be used is critical to success in all WEF’s sub–themes.
AI technology is already being used for global crisis management and prevention. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is currently using AI to improve real–time crisis assessment, staff deployment, and digital assistance while also investing in early warning systems and creating learning experiences to better manage crises in the future. However, even as this developing technology is becoming critical in addressing humanitarian concerns, global regulations are essential to protect privacy and ensure the ethical usage of AI. One possible means of addressing these concerns is using composite AI, which is itself intrinsically collaborative, consisting of systems built from multiple specialized AI models working together to solve complex problems. Similarly, the AI Governance Alliance serves as a case study for prioritizing collaboration and shared knowledge to mitigate the risks that AI poses.
Quantum technologies will become instrumental in business development and government innovation in the Intelligent Age, and is particularly exciting for the financial sector. But quantum technology brings with it genuine cybersecurity concerns. Cyber resilience is becoming more important than cyber security as cyberattacks become more adaptive to changing technology. To best develop cyber resilience, the WEF created a Quantum Economy Blueprint, emphasizing the need for global collaboration to create value in quantum technologies while preventing a “quantum divide” that allows only certain countries and regions to take advantage of the technology. Common ground again becomes essential for developing regulations and placing nations on equitable footing to best use this evolving technology.
Blockchain will become essential to all developing technology in the Intelligent Age as unified global databases become crucial tools for improving healthcare and combating the climate crisis. Like AI and quantum technology, global cooperation and regulations are essential to protect privacy, ensure ethical usage, and promote cyber resilience.
Ultimately, society must also embrace its humanity to navigate the disruption of rapidly developing technology. Art and travel are two key ways of maintaining this needed humanity among our increasingly data–oriented world. Art and travel rely on finding humanity through shared common ground, even amidst unique experiences and differing cultures. Thus, in the Intelligent Age, society can perhaps best find resiliency through our humanity by prioritizing finding our common ground.
