In Kyoto, Japan, at the annual Science and Technology in Society forum, policymakers from the United States and 15 other countries unveiled a joint statement, the "Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science."
The document emphasizes the potential of artificial intelligence, which the statement calls "super intelligence," in line with a recent executive order by President Donald Trump.
The statement calls for integrating AI into scientific research in order to accelerate discoveries and open up new directions of work.
"Super Intelligence and new ways of organizing research are opening up entirely new horizons of discovery. We recognize the opportunity to take advantage of these changes," NBC News quotes the text as saying.
The initiator of the document was Michael Kratsios, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The participating countries also welcome the development of "metascience" — the study of the scientific process itself.
Among the signatories are Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Germany, Italy, Singapore and others.
In a planned speech at the forum, Kratsios describes a future in which laboratories with robots and AI systems will design experiments, conduct them and analyze the results at superhuman speed.
"Super intelligence applied to science will become an incredible force for democratizing research and breakthrough developments," he plans to say.
The statement notes that public trust remains the foundation of scientific progress, and emphasizes the value of diverse funding mechanisms.
How quickly will countries be able to agree on practical steps to implement this vision?
The STS forum has been held in Kyoto since 2004 and brings together experts and policymakers to discuss the role of science and technology in society.
