Photo by Evangeline Shaw, taken from Unsplash.
In Davos, Switzerland, the 54th Annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting took place, in the backdrop of growing fragmentation and conflicts around the world. Political Leaders from across the globe, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Business leaders like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were some of the big names that attended the forum. One key theme discussed was collaboration and cooperation within countries to stimulate economic growth, which aligns with the theme of the forum, “rebuilding trust”. Another contentious topic would be Artificial Intelligence's (AI) impact on the world economy. In addition, the pursuit of sustainability in the future was a topic brought forth in the forum. This essay seeks to discuss the key takeaways from the 2024 WEF Annual meeting at Davos.
With 2024 projected to be a year filled with economic uncertainty, calls for enhanced global cooperation were made in the forum. This is in line with the theme of the forum, titled “Rebuilding Trust”, where one of the key ideas from that theme is for countries to cooperate and move away from the current fragmentation that has occured in the world due to mutual distrust. The two major powers are expected to enhance cooperation and their economies are expected to recover, as consumer confidence picks up this year, and boosts demand in both countries. With the two key powers setting the tone for the world, there could be opportunities for more collaboration and trust to be rebuilt within the world. Though, concerns over geopolitical tensions remain, as elections are held across the world involving about 40% of the population, with the most prominent one being the US Presidential elections. Also, conflicts around the world continue and persist, so that could be a challenge towards global cooperation. As we dive into the topic of AI and Sustainability, the idea of global cooperation will pop up yet again. Involvement by all countries and advancements led by major powers will be the way for AI to flourish safely and sustainable practices to be adopted across the world.
AI was a prominent issue brought up in the forum. Leaders present discussed the importance of AI and how it could impact the world’s economy in the years ahead. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, made his presence felt as he talked about how AI could complement current jobs. He also talked about the impact of ChatGPT, where its introduction has helped to make education and tasks be done more productively. For example, it has been extremely beneficial in how students can conduct research and obtain information. Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO, also talked about how generative and predictive AI augmented the skills of employees at a Gucci call centre. Previously, they were only tasked to repair damaged goods. With the incorporation of such different types of AI, they were able to also attain sales and marketing skills, as predictive AI could help predict customer preferences. This in turn had a positive effect for Gucci’s revenue. Gucci is one example, but many other enterprises have also tried to experiment with the diverse variations of AI.
Simultaneously, it was mentioned that AI had to be developed equitably as well. Usually, lesser developed countries would be disadvantaged by the lack of internet access, lacking in capabilities to conduct sectoral trainings, and also the language barrier in terms of training materials. Most of the time, the training materials are English-based. If AI is not developed equitably across all countries, it could further widen inequality in an already unequal world. The WEF’s AI Government Alliance could solve that. It is a multistakeholder body that combines technical experts, private sector leaders and governments across the world. Through the body, they can craft solutions for the future to ensure that all countries have the ability to utilise AI to its maximum potential, to prevent inequality from widening. Also, the body can help to craft regulations against it, and ensure the transparent and safe use of AI.
As we move on towards the future, many believe that AI will be transitioning from the “pilot and experimentation” phase to the implementation and industrialization phase. As compared to the industrial revolution back in the day, implementation of AI could be more convenient due to the lack of massive equipment or machinery needed for its integration into the workforce.
Though, the implementation of AI has its challenges as well, as countries continue to talk about regulation, and it will be challenging to try and balance AI regulation and its implementation. It would be important for AI to function without infringing on the personal rights of people and also their own personal data. It was something stressed by Salesforce CEO, as this would help AI to build trust with people and would allow its advancement. Apart from that, concerns on AI’s ability to cause large scale disinformation campaigns and cyber offensives is still a worry, especially with the amount of elections that will be held across the world this year. Such an issue was raised in the 2024 WEF Risks report. Notably, the US will be holding its presidential elections this year, and disinformation has been an issue in past elections already. Hence, over time, despite the need to develop AI, there still has to be cooperation and discussions made to regulate the use of AI to prevent these threats. Benioff again mentioned how countries need to wrap their heads around finding solutions for this, before it worsens and becomes a large scale problem.
Next, the issue of sustainability. Heading into this forum, sustainability was a prominent topic, considering how about 97% of business executives had talked about how their firm had been impacted by the negative consequences of climate change. Also, climate change was listed as one of the key issues in the WEF Global risks report. Building resilience towards climate change threats was something that dominated the discussions. This was a good sign, and it was noted that two-thirds of the discussion at Davos was tied to climate change.
Neo Gim Huay, managing director of the WEF centre for nature and climate, raised the idea of firms needing new business models and new lifestyles to ensure the company can grow sustainably in the future. A key industry in question is the consumer goods industry, where firms like Patagonia have been a leader in “regeneration” methods to pursue sustainability. It uses cotton that has been recycled for its clothes and it uses sustainable organic practices like planting different crops at the same time. On the consumer side, a seismic shift has already occurred, with a growing trend in consumers opting for sustainably sourced products over non-sustainably sourced products. Over time, more and more consumers will be more aware of the consequences of climate change, leading to them making more educated decisions when purchasing goods.
The financial sector is expected to play a critical role in managing climate change as well. The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), made a commitment to establish the UNEP FI Risk centre, a centre for financial institutions to manage climate risks and also offer solutions to address climate change. The Risk centre can provide materials for knowledge sharing and help create working groups to conduct tests and assessments to resolve climate-related issues. For this to occur, linking back to the theme of the WEF, countries have to “rebuild trust” and enhance cooperation by sharing risks, so that solutions can be crafted. Yet, if countries fail to cooperate with one another due to geopolitical tensions, the pursuit towards sustainability could be slowed.
In conclusion, the WEF’s theme, "rebuilding trust", was a focal point in the topics discussed in the forum. Trust is key for countries to enhance cooperation, be it economically, politically or socially. Enhanced cooperation will be essential in the rise in the adoption of AI and the equitable development of AI. Simultaneously, trust and cooperation between countries would allow for shared projects for the world to become more sustainable and transition to more sustainable practices.
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