Conference Table 1 – Democracy and artificial intelligence: In the last decade, politically stable countries with a long-held and firm commitment to freedom of expression have witnessed their public debates plunge into an abyss. On social network platforms, anonymous and insidious mass manipulation techniques have corrupted public opinion. Democracy has spawned its opposite, electing leaders who pit themselves against the Democratic Rule of Law. At the center of the global revolution, shady strategies implemented by ultra-complex algorithms have learned how to exploit the fears and desires of crowds and individuals to engender fanaticism and irrationality. Politics has lost connection with the knowledge of factual truth, while obscurantist leaders strive to undermine fundamental rights, science, and human dignity.

Who will build the self-driving car of the future? Fired-up by Google's driverless prototype, carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are already testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. But the advanced sensors and electronics that form the building blocks of self-driving cars are often made by suppliers, not the car manufacturer. "It's all the suppliers into the industry who, in the fullness of time, will gain the power," says a senior industry analyst, who works closely with the leading carmakers. Carmakers have been gradually adding autonomous elements to their vehicles since Jaguar introduced adaptive cruise control in its XK sports car in 1996.