Emerging Technology

Framing ethical perspectives

Emerging Technologies are technologies whose development and/or practical applications are still largely unrealized. Carnegie Council’s events, experts, and initiatives focus on the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies and aim to map the field, illuminate topics requiring further research, and build a diverse community of experts, with the goal of ensuring that these systems are developed and deployed in a just, responsible, and inclusive manner.

Featured Emerging Technology Resources

Artificial intelligence, climate-altering technologies, and more

APR 9, 2024 Video

Algorithms of War: The Use of AI in Armed Conflict

From Gaza to Ukraine, the military applications of AI are fundamentally reshaping the ethics of war. How should policymakers navigate AI’s inherent trade-offs?

MAR 27, 2024 Article

The Specter of EMP Weapons in Space

Visiting Fellow Zhanna Malekos Smith details the danger of electromagnetic pulse weapons. How can nations protect themselves from this catastrophic threat?

Explore Our Emerging Technology Resources

MAY 17, 2018 Transcript

AI, Public Policy, and Aging Society, with Yoshinori Hiroi

"The issues of aging are a common agenda for the industrialized countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. AI technology can be beneficial ...

MAY 17, 2018 Transcript

Designing the Workplace with AI and Robots, with Arisa Ema

In Japan we used to hear the phrase "AI and robots will solve our social problems." But AI and robots also create other new social ...

MAY 17, 2018 Transcript

Moral Machines, with Wendell Wallach

Can artificial agents make moral decisions? Do we want them to make moral decisions? When? For what? If so, whose ethics, whose values, are going ...

MAY 11, 2018 Transcript

AI and Power, with Julia Powles

"I think it's a real tragedy that we are stumbling into a world where we are essentially resigned to the power, invisible or acknowledged, of ...

MAY 8, 2018 Podcast

Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, with Paul Scharre

"What happens when a predator drone has as much as autonomy as a self-driving car, moving to something that is able to do all of ...

First gun fired at Naval Weapons Station Dahlgren, Virginia, 1918. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_tractor-mounted_gun_in_1918.jpg">U.S. Navy/Public Domain</a>

MAY 8, 2018 Podcast

The Living Legacy of WWI: Merchants of Death? The Politics of Defense Contracting, with Christopher Capozzola

In the 1930s during the run-up to WWII, many argued that arms manufacturers and bankers--"merchants of death"--had conspired to manipulate the U.S. ...

MAY 2, 2018 Article

Disengagement Meets the Army of None

Author Paul Scharre presented his book "Army of None" at Carnegie Council on May 1. The book and his talk raise ethical questions about the the ...

Detail from book cover.

APR 25, 2018 Podcast

Us Vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism, with Ian Bremmer

"The failure of globalism [an ideology of bringing people closer together] is very different than the failure of globalization," says Ian Bremmer. "I don't think ...

Shanghai. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/1728593481">Trey Ratcliff</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(CC)</a>

APR 4, 2018 Podcast

#MeToo in China, with Maura Cunningham and Jeffrey Wasserstrom

China experts Cunningham and Wasserstrom start by talking about the small, mainly campus-based #MeToo campaign in China--to avoid internet censorship young people often use emojis ...

Stephanie Sy and Rana Foroohar. CREDIT: Billy Pickett.

APR 3, 2018 Podcast

The Dangers of a Digital Democracy, with Rana Foroohar

The revelations about the misuse of Facebook data have started a pushback against the top five big tech companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. ...