Carnegie Mellon Tackles Global Science Diplomacy in the AI Era

In an era of rapid change both in technology and global relations, Carnegie Mellon University is helping to show academia’s steadfast role as a mediator and conduit for conversation. The deans and faculty of the university’s seven schools and colleges often travel abroad to help shape critical conversations on the future of global research and education, ensuring that the flow of ideas continues to power discovery and advance human progress.

In January, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences(opens in new window) held a collaborative roundtable with the Royal Society in London, centered on science diplomacy in the modern world, and the ways in which academics and advocates for knowledge must approach the concept.

The event brought together politicians and experts from around the world to discuss the value of science diplomacy. Barbara Shinn-Cunningham(opens in new window), Glen de Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science(opens in new window), spoke as part of the event.

“For a long time, scientists enjoyed the luxury of not worrying much about policy or public debate,” Shinn-Cunningham said. “Culturally, engaging with such questions was often seen as a distraction or even a sullying of the scientific enterprise.”

Instead, she said scientists, engineers and researchers have a growing responsibility to communicate the importance of their work to decision-makers and everyday people.

“We need to explain why science matters: how it fuels economies, trains the workforce, mitigates or even cures disease, and helps address existential challenges like climate change,” she said. “And, sometimes, science is just about basic discovery whose ultimate impact is unknowable.”

Shinn-Cunningham also spoke about the development of artificial intelligence and how it increases the need for clear communication from experts.

“Modern science — including my own field of neuroscience — produces data at a scale and complexity that no human could interpret alone. AI is no longer optional; it is essential to discovery,” Shinn-Cunningham said. “As a tool, AI dramatically accelerates discovery, but only when it is grounded in deep domain knowledge, with constraints built into the computation.”

When it comes to science diplomacy, Shinn-Cunningham said that artificial intelligence both creates opportunities for scientific advancement, and reinforces the need for clear communication and trust.

“As AI becomes inseparable from science, maintaining trust requires that these systems embody the same principles that have always defined scientific progress: rigor, transparency, reproducibility, and accountability,” she said.

Knowledge on the world stage

At the 2026 World Economic Forum, CMU President Farnam Jahanian and several other members of the university community facilitated discussions on the ties between industry and academia across a number of panels.

During an opening roundtable discussion titled “Open science for global challenges,” Jahanian discussed the importance of interdisciplinary education, AI-accelerated scientific discovery and the future of work with an emphasis on upskilling and reskilling to prepare for the changes being driven by AI and advanced technologies.

"It's not just about educating the next generation of scientists and engineers," Jahanian said. "It's really about developing the population such that we all can benefit from it and can leverage that in our day to day work — whether it's in scientific discovery, or in any sector of the economy."

Erica Fuchs(opens in new window), director of the Critical Technology Initiative and a Kavčić-Moura Professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy(opens in new window) facilitated a panel related to her expertise in technology policy, manufacturing, and the dynamics of international industry. She previously led the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment(opens in new window), which brought together leading scholars from 13 Tier I research institutes. The network focused on deep engagement with government and private sector leaders to inform national decisions on technology investments and policy.

Fuchs also attended panels covering topics such as intelligent infrastructure, workforce development, industrial policy, and the future of research, with special attention to the international implications of each.

“In this polarized moment nationally and internationally, it is essential to bring together the widest possible variety of viewpoints and stakeholders together with changemakers, to identify paths forward for the betterment of all people globally,” she said.

As the U.S. reevaluates domestic industry in the face of new technologies, Fuchs said the shifting geopolitical landscape offers those in higher education the chance to step in as standard-bearers for dialogue and partnership.

“There is also tremendous potential for academics between nations to develop a common empirical understanding of the world to inform trade and diplomatic negotiations, policies, and defense alliances within and between nations,” she said.

While offering world-class expertise to industry and policy leaders is one of the biggest benefits of engaging in worldwide discussions, the university’s global reach also has the advantage of helping other academic professionals communicate the needs of higher education as a whole.

“Academia has historically played an essential role in providing vision for the way the world works, technical possibilities for the future, causal empirical evidence to understand the relationship between actions and outcomes, and as a neutral third party,” Fuchs said, “whether for data, pre-competitive research, science and technology standards-development, and even science diplomacy between nations.”

Knowledge in the AI era

As one of the world’s leading institutions for AI development, innovation and implementation, Carnegie Mellon’s experts are often sought out to help make critical decisions as the technology proliferates. The institution’s leadership in the field of AI was on full display in Singapore this January.

Ramayya Krishnan(opens in new window), dean emeritus of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy(opens in new window) and director of the CMU AI Measurement Science and Engineering Center (AIMSEC)(opens in new window) attended the 40th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and gave keynote addresses at the conference and at a separate event organized by the Government of Singapore (IMDA) and the AI Verify Foundation.

Alongside Krishnan, the CMU faculty members present to share their expertise included AAAI President and CMU Research Professor Stephen Smith(opens in new window); and former AAAI presidents Raj Reddy(opens in new window), Moza Bint Nasser University Professor, and Manuela Veloso(opens in new window), professor emeritus of machine learning.Smith, Reddy and Veloso spoke on the growth of industry, and the role that AI expertise needs to play across industries, in a segment titled the “Presidential Panel on the Future of AI Research(opens in new window).”

“We've seen, over the past couple of years, AI has sprung into society, and it's in the mainstream now,” Smith said during the event’s opening remarks. “We've seen some remarkable technical advancements with deep learning and large language models. With that has come raised expectations of both the potential and the concerns about AI as it evolves into the future.”

During the week’s events, Krishnan shared insights about the capability deployment gap in AI and how this might be addressed through better measurement and evaluation of AI models and systems. He also rallied global legal experts, policy makers and business leaders to discuss AI governance, and to tackle the specific challenges that AI agents pose as their identity and accountability advance.

“Events like these offer leading institutions like our own the chance to engage with change-makers across the globe, bringing thought leaders together and meeting them where they are,” Krishnan said. “As we make scientific advances, how we communicate about the future becomes just as important as what we are communicating.”

The conference’s programming also included a tribute to and remarks from CMU alumnus and 2025 honorary degree recipient Edward Feigenbaum, in celebration of his historic achievements in the field: “Professor Edward Feigenbaum: A Tribute to and Lecture by a Pioneer of AI on his 90th Birthday(opens in new window).” Throughout his career, Feigenbaum pioneered new approaches to artificial intelligence, directed Stanford's Computation Center, and chaired its Computer Science Department.