The Unesco standards define a new category of data, 'neural data', and suggest guidelines governing its protection. The Unesco standards define a new category of data, 'neural data', and suggest guidelines governing its protection. Unesco adopts global standards on'wild west' field of neurotechnology UN body's recommendations driven by AI advances and proliferation of consumer-oriented neurotech devices It is the latest move in a growing international effort to put guardrails around a burgeoning frontier - technologies that harness data from the brain and nervous system. Unesco has adopted a set of global standards on the ethics of neurotechnology, a field that has been described as "a bit of a wild west". "There is no control," said Unesco's chief of bioethics, Dafna Feinholz.

The accelerated evolution of digital infrastructures and algorithmic systems is reshaping how the humanities engage with knowledge and culture. Rooted in the traditions of Digital Humanities and Digital Humanism, the concept of "Cyber Humanities" proposes a critical reconfiguration of humanistic inquiry for the post-digital era. This Manifesto introduces a flexible framework that integrates ethical design, sustainable digital practices, and participatory knowledge systems grounded in human-centered approaches. By means of a Decalogue of foundational principles, the Manifesto invites the scientific community to critically examine and reimagine the algorithmic infrastructures that influence culture, creativity, and collective memory. Rather than being a simple extension of existing practices, "Cyber Humanities" should be understood as a foundational paradigm for humanistic inquiry in a computationally mediated world. Keywords: Cyber Humanities, Digital Humanities, Transdisciplinary Epistemology, Algorithmic Reflexivity, Human-centered AI, Ethics-by-Design, Knowledge Ecosystems, Digital Sovereignty, Cognitive Infrastructures

I) Introduction Do robots vote? Do machines make decisions instead of us? No, (at least not yet), but this is something that could happen . At the most important level, that of the electoral process, it is noted that it is not determined by the AI, but it is greatly impacted by its multiple applications . New types of online campaigns, driven by AI applications, are replacing traditional ones. The potential for manipulating voters and indirectly influencing the electoral outcome should not be underestimated. Certainly, instances of voter manipulation are not absent from traditional political campaigns, with the only difference being that digital manipulation is often carried out without our knowledge, e.g. by monitoring our behavior on social media. Nevertheless, we should not overlook the positive impact that AI has in the upgrading of democratic institutions by providing a forum for participation in decision - making . In this context, as a first step, we look into the potential jeopardization of democratic processes posed by the use of AI tools. Secondly, we consider the possibility of strengthening democratic processes by using AI, as well as the democratization of AI itself through the possibilities it offers. And thirdly, the impact of AI on the representative system is also discussed. The paper is concluded with recommendations and conclusions. II) Risks posed for democracy Misuse of AI tools can lead to the undermining of democratic political processes or the manipulation of individuals through specific targeting, which will destabilize democracy.

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is profoundly transforming human society and concurrently presenting a series of ethical, legal, and social issues. The effective governance of AI has become a crucial global concern. Since 2022, the extensive deployment of generative AI, particularly large language models, marked a new phase in AI governance. Continuous efforts are being made by the international community in actively addressing the novel challenges posed by these AI developments. As consensus on international governance continues to be established and put into action, the practical importance of conducting a global assessment of the state of AI governance is progressively coming to light. In this context, we initiated the development of the AI Governance InternationaL Evaluation Index (AGILE Index). Adhering to the design principle, "the level of governance should match the level of development," the inaugural evaluation of the AGILE Index commences with an exploration of four foundational pillars: the development level of AI, the AI governance environment, the AI governance instruments, and the AI governance effectiveness. It covers 39 indicators across 18 dimensions to comprehensively assess the AI governance level of 14 representative countries globally. The index is utilized to delve into the status of AI governance to date in 14 countries for the first batch of evaluation. The aim is to depict the current state of AI governance in these countries through data scoring, assist them in identifying their governance stage and uncovering governance issues, and ultimately offer insights for the enhancement of their AI governance systems.

Over the past decade, there have been increasing proclama5ons from diverse stakeholders that humanity is at an inflec5on point due to advances in Ar5ficial Intelligence (AI) technologies (e.g., Crawford, 2017). The general public are condi5oned by this messaging to expect both big (though so far largely non-descript) changes to our lives, including to the way that we learn and teach. Warnings have been also ar5culated regarding whether and how AI might fundamentally change the way we perceive reality, how we form our beliefs, or interact with one another (Bostrom, 2017). More recently, ques5ons started to emerge about AI's transforma5ve poten5al (for beLer or worse) for our func5oning at neurocogni5ve, socio-emo5onal, individual and collec5ve levels (UNESCO, 2022; Pedro, et al., 2019, Porayska-Pomsta, 2023), along with concerns regarding the ethical implica5ons of using AI for suppor5ng human decision-making in contexts that are both high-stakes (e.g., for medical diagnoses or for student assessment) and rela5vely low-stakes, e.g., selec5ng movies on streaming sites. Such hope-fear rhetoric is also present in the context of AI applica5ons to suppor5ng human learning in formal and informal contexts. Recent hopes for AI in educa5on (AIED) largely relate to delivering learning at scale across different geographical and cultural contexts, especially in light of growing global teacher shortages and diminishing funding for educa5on in many countries (UNESCO, 2023). These hopes are increasingly used to fuel poli5cally and market mo5vated discourse about the need to'release teachers from tedious tasks' such as standardised assessments to allow them to focus on the'things that maLer' (Gen5le et al., 2023), or to jus5fy the narrowing of the formal educa5on curricula mainly to STEM subjects.

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies spread worldwide, international discussions have increasingly focused on their consequences for democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, security, and economic and social development. In this context, UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, adopted in November 2021, has emerged as the first global normative framework for AI development and deployment. The intense negotiations of every detail of the document brought forth numerous controversies among UNESCO member states. Drawing on a unique set of primary sources, including written positions and recorded deliberations, this paper explains the achievement of global compromise on AI regulation despite the multiplicity of UNESCO member-state positions representing a variety of liberal and sovereignist preferences. Building upon Boltanski's pragmatic sociology, it conceptualises the practice of multilateral negotiations and attributes the multilateral compromise to two embedded therein mechanisms: Structural normative hybridity and situated normative ambiguity allowed to accomplish a compromise by linking macro-normative structures with situated debates of multilateral negotiations.

Cultural heritage is an arena of international relations that interests all states worldwide. The inscription process on the UNESCO World Heritage List and the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity often leads to tensions and conflicts among states. This research addresses these challenges by developing automatic tools that provide valuable insights into the decision-making processes regarding inscriptions to the two lists mentioned above. We propose innovative topic modelling and tension detection methods based on UNESCO's summary records. Our analysis achieved a commendable accuracy rate of 72% in identifying tensions. Furthermore, we have developed an application tailored for diplomats, lawyers, political scientists, and international relations researchers that facilitates the efficient search of paragraphs from selected documents and statements from specific speakers about chosen topics. This application is a valuable resource for enhancing the understanding of complex decision-making dynamics within international heritage inscription procedures.

A United Nations panel has warned that brain chip technology being pioneered by Elon Musk could be abused for'neurosurveillance' violating'mental privacy,' or'even to implement forms of forced re-education,' threatening human rights worldwide. The UN's agency for science and culture (UNESCO) said neurotechnology like Musk's Neuralink, if left unregulated, will lead to'new possibilities of monitoring and manipulating the human mind through neuroimaging' and'personality-altering' tech. UNESCO is now strategizing on a worldwide'ethical framework' to protect humanity from the potential abuses of the technology -- which they fear will be accelerated by advances in AI. 'We are on a path to a world in which algorithms will enable us to decode people's mental processes,' said UNESCO's assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Gabriela Ramos. The implications are'far-reaching and potentially harmful,' Ramos said, given breakthroughs in neurotechnology that could'directly manipulate the brain mechanisms' in humans, 'underlying their intentions, emotions and decisions.' The committee's warnings come less than two months after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Elon Musk's brain-chip implant company Neuralink federal approval to conduct trials on humans.

The United Nations' cultural and scientific agency UNESCO has announced that the United States plans to rejoin – and pay more than $600m in back dues – after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organisation's move to include Palestine as a member. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay informed ambassadors of the member states of the US decision in a special meeting on Monday. US officials say the decision to return was motivated by concerns that China is filling the gap left by the US in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma submitted a letter last week to Azoulay formalising the plan. The proposed plan to rejoin in 2023 would be submitted to the General Conference of UNESCO Member States for final approval.

Another challenge: Forming an AI regulatory body on a global scale would require significant funding. "We need money," he said. "We need some philanthropists probably to get us started." "It's still a very long road," Marcus told Fox News. "It's a big ask, but I think the time for it is right."