Thematic Discussion Group to inform the UN Summit of the Future
Common Good AI’s vision is to foster inclusive civic engagement by transforming how communities find common ground and solve problems together. We are actively piloting the use of digital tools to inform our community engagement approach. Before starting Common Good AI, the CrowdSmart technology was used by a working group in discussion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. As we learn and grow as an organization, we return to early collaborations to identify success factors and continue to improve our processes. This early case study is not a rigorous academic study; rather, it is documentation of lessons learned based on key informant interviews.
The Background
A group of thinkers in the Sustainable Development Goals Thought Leaders Circle (SDG TLC) were inspired by United Nations’ (UN) General-Secretary António Guterres’ call for “deep and rapid transformation.” The group wanted to leverage the UN and its member states’ openness to new ways of working to propose radically new approaches. In January 2024, members of the SDG TLC formed a working group to identify the conversations that needed to take place in order to create rapid change. The group’s goal was to build connection and conversation in addition to recommending approaches and strategies. They called the initiative Deep and Rapid Transformative Convergence (DRTC) and centered their thinking around the seven key themes: SDGs and Financing, International Peace and Security, Science Technology and Innovation, Youth and Future Generations, Economic Architecture, Global Governance, and Strategies for Impact.
They designed a nine-month process to create seven thematic dialogue groups that included three online meetings, which would generate a series of recommendations. Using these recommendations, members of the dialogue groups would meet in New York in September 2024 to discuss in person. Ultimately, the ideas generated from this process would inform further recommendations shared with the UN Summit of the Future via the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) working groups.
The Process
The Science, Technology and Innovation dialogue group adopted the use of the CrowdSmart platform. Yet, one of the facilitators noted significant skepticism and fear around the use of AI, especially within a group that questioned the financially driven ethos of the tech industry.
To help the dialogue group better understand the value of using digital tools, like CrowdSmart, the facilitation team invited participants to an “AI play date”, during which participants were asked to respond to the question: what knowledge or wisdom do you want to pass on to future generations? The friendly, politically neutral, forward-thinking topic was selected in the hopes that it would replace fear with curiosity, and ultimately encourage the group to share ideas via the AI platform. Participants in the group were asked to input answers asynchronously and then during a virtual call, they were encouraged to use the platform again and review the findings all together.
In the first minutes of the collaboration, participants expressed concerns about not understanding how to use the platform. After an initial overview, there was a moment of inflection, as described by the facilitator, when the power of the technology’s process became clear. She commented, “All of a sudden you see them shift from a bunch of individuals who are afraid they're going to get left behind… to suddenly sharing something very personal, very meaningful to them, and a way that now was incredibly fun.” With some encouragement, the participants found CrowdSmart.ai’s interface as accessible and easy to adopt, which helps foster confidence in groups unfamiliar with AI. The facilitators were amazed that, “Within four minutes we had a hundred ideas collectively contributed which then people went on to rank. It opened people's minds and hearts. It was truly a moment of wow and inspiration and possibility.” After the initial collaboration, participants were more open to the use of AI technology and saw the value of its ability to accelerate idea sharing and that built a feeling of connection.
In the second round of the dialogues, the facilitators focused on the group’s theme: Science, Technology and Innovation. They wanted to identify major themes from a unitive approach, one that would promote a more interconnected perspective of human development. Instead of focusing on specific outputs, the facilitators used CrowdSmart to engage participants in a conversation and break down barriers within the group; a philosophy they referred to as “connection over content.”
Within the thematic group, CrowdSmart allowed the participants to work at a much faster pace, accelerating the ideation and collaboration process. In one of the facilitator’s words, “The technology lets participants observe the universe from a different place, to see what's happening in the world from a different perspective.” Each emphasized that the process wasn't just about generating better ideas, but about removing the barriers and fears that prevent people from trying new technology, as well as analyzing a problem from a different perspective by reviewing and ranking other participants' ideas.
Using the deliberative technology platform enabled participants to share as many ideas as they wanted, while the AI listened and synthesized the information. It generated a sense of inclusiveness because all ideas were heard–and it helped foster a ‘connection’ that the facilitators wanted, which enabled the participants to feel more trust between each other. Consequently, during the in-person meeting in New York, they had established a rapport that enabled the discussions to go deeper.
The Results
Based on two online meetings, the dialogue group generated several high-level observations about the challenges and opportunities within the Science, Technology and Innovation theme to inform the UN Summit of the Future. There was consensus within the working group about the need to focus on more unitive approaches, looking at how the SDGs themes are interrelated and should not be siloed. There was also consensus about the UN’s need to think in more visionary terms; how can they make good decisions in science and technology development that would not harm future generations.
The ideas generated using the CrowdSmart technology informed the in-person discussions held in New York. Ultimately, a holistic series of ideas were shared informally during the following UN civil society and General Assembly events that were organized around the Summit of the Future. Since the conclusion of the DRTC Convergence process, dialogue participants have been emboldened to take the ideas and apply them within their individual work, while the organizers continue to advocate for greater unitive thinking in future UN development planning.
What We Learned
The DRTC engagement taught us valuable lessons about mitigating fear and resistance around the use of AI technology. The group initially faced a lot of skepticism, but was able to create significant buy-in once participants realized the power of the tool to listen to all ideas. The DRTC engagement offers a great example of CrowdSmart’s ability to effectively accelerate ideation and build trust within working groups.
Through this engagement, we learned:
Creating informal, low threat opportunities to use the tech builds participants confidence and increases buy in
Using CrowdSmart enhanced participants' openness to sharing and accelerated connection building and ideation
The tool allowed participants to gain a holistic, multifaceted view of the topic at hand
The tool served as a broad consensus builder, allowing participants to find connection across diverse ideas
