LSE President discusses AI for the Global Good
On Friday 5 September, LSE President and Vice Chancellor Professor Larry Kramer delivered a lecture at Peking University on AI for Global Good: Future Technologies and Society. He explored the profound opportunities and challenges posed by rapid technological change, arguing that while inventing new tools is relatively simple, ensuring they serve society equitably and effectively is far more complex. From accessibility and fairness to their broader social impact, Professor Kramer highlighted how these questions sit at the heart of the social sciences and will be central to shaping humanity’s future.
Addressing the intersection of AI and the social sciences, Professor Kramer said: “Inventing turns out to be the easy part. The hard part – the part that determines whether these inventions do good or ill, whether the benefits are widely and fairly shared, and whether their costs are managed or spin out of control – is social, institutional, and political. Whether technologies do good or ill, in other words, is not inherent in the technologies themselves but is a matter of choice: of how we choose to use or not use them. It is, in other words, the work of the social sciences.”
Speaking about LSE’s role specifically, Professor Kramer stressed that LSE continues to bring social science expertise directly into AI's development and deployment, supporting empirical research, policy design and public dialogue to shape how AI is used across the globe: "We are equipping our community with practical skills through a Digital Skills Lab and by giving faculty incentives to redesign courses to help students learn to use AI responsibly, critically, and creatively. And we are partnering with trusted technology leaders to give our people access to safe, enterprise grade tools and support. To that end, we have entered into partnerships with Anthropic and Microsoft Copilot, but made these partnerships anchored in strong commitments to privacy, safety and training.
“The inventions we celebrate are essential. But it is the institutions we build around them that determine whether they solve problems or create new ones. At LSE we intend to be at the forefront of those choices: convening, researching, and educating to ensure that technology serves society. That is the work before all of us: in universities, government, business and civil society. Let’s do it together, with urgency and with humility.”
This speech builds on LSE’s already strong links in the region. The School has established partnerships with Peking University (PKU), Tsinghua University and Fudan University who are amongst China’s most prestigious institutions. With PKU, collaboration spans two double degree programmes as well as an MBA exchange through the Guanghua School of Management. The two universities also work together on global debates around technology and higher education through the Digital Intelligence International Development Education Alliance (DI-IDEA) and the annual LSE–PKU Conference.
During the visit to China Professor Kramer was delighted to also meet with his counterpart President Li and to formally launch the LSE-Tsinghua Research Sustainability Fund. With Tsinghua, LSE co-chairs the Global Alliance on Universities on Climate (GAUC) and the research fund aims to support projects addressing global challenges.
Alongside our three joint double degree programmes at master’s level, Fudan University hosts the LSE-Fudan Research Centre for Global Public Policy with LSE, supporting collaborative research on global public policy, multi-disciplinary cooperation and enhancing communication between Fudan and LSE to generate research of global impact.
Overall, LSE welcomes approximately 3,000 students from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and has around 30,000 alumni resident across East and South East Asia.
Learn more about LSE's partnerships with prestigious universities around the world here.