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In 2014, a group of data scientists from Microsoft teamed up with AI experts to create a computer program that could generate pictures in the style of Rembrandt. The team created a deep learning network which reviewed 150 gigabytes’ worth of Rembrandt paintings. The network soon learned to recognize distinctive features of Rembrandt’s works be... Continue Reading →
Recently, I was asked by an American diplomat about the benefits of using AI in public diplomacy activities. The Diplomat stated that as AI was a new kind of technology, foreign ministries around the world are anxious to learn about its benefits and shortcomings. This very question was put to me again this week when... Continue Reading →
In his last recorded interview from 1986, astronomer Carl Sagan stated “We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustive mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces”. The ignorance, and power, which Sagan was... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- As Deepfakes Flourish, Countries Struggle With Response (The New York Times) Throwback tech continues to fascinate us. Do we want an analog future? (CNN) Industrial espionage: How China sneaks out America's... Continue Reading →
The practice of digital diplomacy has altered considerably since its inception in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Early digital diplomacy initiatives focused on using virtual platforms to overcome the limitations of traditional diplomacy. For instance, in 2008 Sweden launched the world’s first virtual Embassy in the online world of Second Life. This Embassy... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week – Here is what Saudi Arabia's city of the future will look like (Cybernews)State Department pursues ‘people-people’ diplomacy through video games (The Washington Post)Inside Ukraine’s open-source war (Financial Times)Starlink: Why is... Continue Reading →
A paradox, by nature, is hard to grasp. It is a self-contradictory statement that at first seems false, or misleading. George Bernard Shaw’s most famous paradox is that ‘youth is wasted on the young’. This is seemingly contradictory for how can youth be wasted on those who are youthful? Shaw was of course referring to... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- America must protect these 5 technologies if it wants to remain a superpower (MSNBC)New Facebook Whistleblower Reportedly Alleges It Ignored Hate Speech (Forbes)Trump to launch his own social media platform, calling... Continue Reading →
The enduring characteristic of empires is not that they rise, but that they fall. Some, such as Rome, fall due to corruption. Others, such as France, fall due to military defeats. Still others may fall due to technological deficits, as was the case with the Soviet Union, or due to societal unrest, as was the... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- Facebook’s Problems Aren’t Only in Washington (Foreign Policy)Facebook Will Not Fix Itself (Time Magazine)Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show (Wall Street Journal)Facebook says it will add... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 