The United States on Sunday will release a joint statement with 15 other countries describing a shared vision for a \u201cgolden age of science\u201d that embraces the potential of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The announcement is expected in Kyoto, Japan, at this year\u2019s Science and Technology in Society Forum, an annual gathering of experts and policymakers that began in 2004.<\/p>\n
The statement, titled the \u201cKyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science,\u201d begins by recognizing science and technology\u2019s benefits to society then goes on to encourage research that integrates artificial intelligence. (The statement calls it \u201csuper intelligence,\u201d given President Donald Trump\u2019s recent executive order<\/a> renaming the technology.)<\/p>\n \u201cSuper Intelligence and new ways of organizing research are opening entirely new frontiers of discovery,\u201d reads the statement, which was seen by NBC News. \u201cWe recognize the opportunity to take advantage of these changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael Kratsios, head of the White House\u2019s Office of Science and Technology Policy, spearheaded the vision statement, which also says the participating countries welcome the \u201cgrowing field of metascience,\u201d a term that describes the study of the scientific process itself.<\/p>\n Tech ministers from Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates were among the representatives from other countries that endorsed the statement.<\/p>\n In remarks Kratsios plans to deliver at the forum, shared in advance with NBC News, he will outline a vision for an era of scientific progress in which laboratories run by robots and AI systems can design scientific experiments, iterate and analyze results at superhuman speeds.<\/p>\n \u201cSuper intelligence applied to science will be an incredible force for democratization of research and breakthrough developments,\u201d he plans to say.<\/p>\n Leading AI companies Anthropic<\/a> and OpenAI<\/a> have recently launched initiatives to connect biomedical laboratories to powerful AI systems, while other companies<\/a> have attempted to automate laboratories for years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe landscape has changed everywhere, the ground is moving beneath our feet, and we must all reinvigorate our research enterprise and lay new foundations for knowledge, innovation and prosperity,\u201d Kratsios is expected to say in his remarks.<\/p>\n The vision statement also says that public trust is the bedrock of scientific innovation and progress and that there\u2019s value in \u201ca deliberate portfolio of funding mechanisms\u201d for science.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to make drastic cuts to federal funding for scientific research. Its proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year would, for example, cut funding for the National Science Foundation by about half.<\/p>\n Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the administration had undermined many scientific research efforts. \u201cThey\u2019ve shattered the trust of the American people in the way they\u2019ve treated the U.S. science and technology enterprise,\u201d she said, pointing in particular to cuts to the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to take seriously any promises of increased trust and transparency when you look at the actions they\u2019ve taken,\u201d Goldman said.<\/p>\n The statement comes as part of a wider push by Kratsios to reform how the U.S. incentivizes scientific innovation. In July, he submitted a report<\/a> to Trump recommending changes to the ways the federal government funds research. He plans to host a summit<\/a> about it in Washington, D.C., on Thursday with scientific and business leaders.<\/p>\n Kratsios is also leading the Genesis Mission<\/a>, a national effort Trump launched last year to \u201cunleash a new age of AI\u2011accelerated innovation and discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n The forthcoming vision statement puts a particular emphasis on metascience, an area of study that has received wider government attention in recent years.<\/p>\n Its prominence in the statement signals increased international adoption, according to Jenn Gustetic, director of metascience and research and development policy at the nonpartisan think tank Institute for Progress.<\/p>\n \u201cMetascience efforts have built momentum in the U.K. and the U.S. and it\u2019s encouraging to see other nations embrace this mindset of experimentation and evidence building,\u201d Gustetic said.<\/p>\n In September, the National Science Foundation announced that it would establish an Office of Metascience (OMS), charged with evaluating new approaches to funding and identifying which award mechanisms lead to the best scientific outcomes.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the OMS, NSF will become a learning, self-improving institution that tries new approaches, measures their effects, admits candidly when they do not work, and scales them when they succeed,\u201d the agency\u2019s acting director Brian Stone wrote in a letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Science and Technology in Society Forum is intended as a venue for leaders to discuss how to maximize the benefits of science and address ethical and safety issues.<\/p>\n During the three-day gathering, scientists and policymakers from around the world are expected to discuss how AI is impacting education, how experts can foster trust in scientific research, recent breakthroughs in personalized medicine and more.<\/p>\n The vision statement is set to be released just days after Trump gathered the country\u2019s leading tech executives at the White House to forge consensus on how to regulate and minimize risks from AI. The meeting culminated in the \u201cWhite House Accord on Super Intelligence<\/a>,\u201d which laid out a four-part voluntary approach for companies to independently oversee their own safety protocols.<\/p>\n Kratsios participated in the AI meeting.<\/p>\n