Beijing
Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and life science have led to the fourth scientific and technological revolution. The Berggruen China Center is a hub for East-West research and dialogue dedicated to the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study of the transformations affecting humanity. Intellectual themes for researchers and visiting scholars focus on frontier technologies and society—specifically in artificial intelligence, the microbiome, and gene editing as well as issues involving global governance and globalization.
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Program Themes
Frontier Science, Technology, & Philosophy
We live in an era of explosive knowledge growth. Advances in frontier science and technology allow humans to understand the world in unprecedented ways at speeds faster than have been possible at any other time in history. These advances have also created new ways for human beings to understand ourselves. We believe it is imperative to make full use of intellectual resources from around the world, which will enable us to respond to the challenges brought about by these rapid changes, connect the past with the future, and provide an interdisciplinary road map for a way forward. In this way we can develop and shape impactful philosophical, scientific, and technological concepts that better serve humanity and the broader ecosystem.
Related Projects & Events
Symbiosis in Life Sciences and Gongsheng in Eastern Philosophies
When Science and Humanities Face Life Together
Creative Futures
The rapid development and extensive application of digital, gene-editing, and other life-altering technologies are profoundly changing how we envision possible futures. Technology, together with the associated multiplying impact it exerts on humanity and the broader environment, introduces opportunities and complications to our vision of the world and our ability to imagine and shape the future. We invite scientists specializing in AI, robotics, gene editing, climate change, as well as technologists working in virtual reality and gaming, to map out their research visions and extrapolate future scenarios of human society and the planetary system. We then produce project reports to capture these evidence based ideas. Science fiction writers, artists and curators are also part of the program and they take the lead in creating images of the multitude futures, narratives, and stories which transport us to the realms of imagination.
Related Projects & Events
Science Fiction and Philosophy: An Encounter in the Future
Ancient Wisdom & Planetary Governance
We live in an era of great transformation and crisis. Borrowing from ancient wisdom on governance, we embark on projects to discuss and explore future-oriented global governance concepts aligned with the overall interests of mankind and our living environment. Based on the study of how value systems originating from the world’s philosophical, cultural, and historical traditions both shape and limit concepts and practices in contemporary global governance, we encourage reflections on the relational nature of human rationality at the levels of the individual, societal, political, and cultural ecosystems, and we explore paths towards a truly open and pluralistic value system.
Related Projects & Events
China-India: Bridging the Two Worlds
Ongoing Projects
The Global Thinkers Series invites thinkers who have deep insights into issues of great significance to share their knowledge and wisdom on topics including evolution of different civilizations, grand narratives of world history and their contemporary implications, as well as philosophical and social theories which have profoundly reshaped societies and human minds.
The Berggruen Seminar Series provides a platform for Berggruen fellows and friends to share their latest research with the public. Started in March 2019, the series has hosted more than 20 events. Aiming to provide opportunities for speakers and audiences to have in-depth discussions, the events are held in person (when possible) and live-streamed. Topics of the seminars included “Heritable Genome Editing,” “Challenges Posed by Big Data on the Foundations of Scientific Thinking,” “Care Robots and Ethics,” “Confucian Commonsense Meets the AI Revolution,” “AI Ethics: Designing for Responsibility,” and “Imperfect Genes: Human Evolution in New Gene Origination.”
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