The seminar is designed to bring together a diverse group of New Zealand leaders, young and old, from public and private sectors, to explore decision making and the ultimately challenging trade-offs during a crisis, such as COVID-19. The seminar will be moderated by:
Neil Jacobstein, Aspen Crown Fellow, MediaX Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford, and leading authority on Artificial Intelligence,
Prof. James Maclaurin, Department of Philosophy, Associate Dean for Research (Humanities) at the University of Otago, and
Christine Maiden Sharp, Founder, Trustee and CEO of Aspen NZ, former consultant McKinsey & Co.
COVID-19 has upended our daily lives on an unprecedented scale and time frame. Government responses have varied dramatically with profoundly different outcomes unfolding, from Sweden to the United States to New Zealand. Some exemplary, some not.
This seminar will address scientific, technical and ethical aspects of decision making during times of crisis. We will use the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, considering the values-based trade-offs and consequences. This is not just a series of lectures or a Zoom webinar, but rather a moderated discussion with participants grounded in a set of short readings. Like the real world in crisis, each session will be seamlessly interdisciplinary, rather than artificially separating science from technology from ethics. The seminar has a not-for-attribution rule that encourages creative thinking, dissenting opinions, and candid dialogue, rather than just questions and answers.
This seminar will consist of three Zoom sessions, starting at 9am and finishing at 11:30am. An important component to the success of the seminar, is for every participant to attend each session, and to read in advance the short readings that will be sent to you. These readings do not require any technical or scientific background. They form a common starting point for participants to reflect upon.
Space is limited to 25 participants. To apply to attend please contact us below.
About the moderators:
Neil Jaobstein chairs the AI and Robotics Track at Singularity University in Silicon Valley. Jacobstein is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Stanford’s MediaX Program, where he does research on augmenting group decision making. He has over 25 years of technical consulting experience on AI projects for leading business, government, and start-up organizations. Jacobstein was CEO at Teknowledge Corporation, a pioneering early AI company. He chaired the 17th AAAI Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence Conference and continues to review AI and Robotics technical papers regularly. Neil is a Henry Crown Fellow and Socrates Seminar moderator at the Aspen Institute. He is a founding board member of the Aspen Initiative New Zealand. Neil has a keen sense of how the arts and sciences can integrate, and he honors multiple points of view in his seminars. His goal in seminars is to ensure that participants engage in a 360 degree examination of the values-based issues surrounding advanced technologies like AI. Neil is serving a second 3-year appointment to the Earth and Life Studies Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In 2016, he became a Founding Editorial Board member for AAAS Science Robotics. He serves in a variety of leadership, public speaking, and advisory roles worldwide for corporate, government, and not for profit organisations.
Prof. James Maclaurin is a philosopher of science with particular interest in the life sciences (especially ecology and evolutionary biology) and computing and information science (particularly artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity). He is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and his PhD is from the Australian National University (RSSS). He has taught at the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne and Victoria University of Wellington where he was a Marsden Post Doctoral Fellow. His current appointment at the University of Otago is split between the Department of Philosophy and his Associate Dean (Research) role in the Division of Humanities. He is a co-director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy. He was appointed University Public Orator in 2019.
Christine Maiden Sharp is the founder, trustee and CEO of the Aspen Institute New Zealand and formerly a Strategy Consultant, a graduate of the University of Auckland and alumni of McKinsey & Company. Christine was inspired to launch this initiative when she recently returned to live in New Zealand, after having lived and worked in Asia, Australia and USA for much of her professional life. In her most recent role outside of New Zealand, Christine ran the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Singapore, where she worked closely with the New Zealand Government and business community, repositioning the Chamber to become the leading voice for the New Zealand business community in the gateway to Southeast Asia. Prior to this, Christine developed strategies for clients across the Asia-Pacific region in diverse sectors, from banking, food and beverage, transportation to technology.