Course description

AI is a game-changing innovation with disruptive implications for policymakers, governments, and international organisations. It reveals novel and complex issues influencing the ways that citizens are governed, how governments, industry, and civil society cooperate with each other, and the tools that leaders use to navigate geopolitical tensions and diplomacy. For some countries, AI’s ascension is a chance to achieve shared prosperity and marshal collective power for social good, limiting common harms. For others, AI is a potent tool for division, meddling, and possibly an existential threat to humanity. An array of policy frameworks have emerged across the globe, but given the global reach of this technology, international agreements are needed, but are currently piecemeal at best and subject to the vagaries of shifting geo-politics.

Navigating this uncharted territory is all the more challenging because the contours are constantly changing as the technology evolves. This course will explore the still-unfolding landscape of AI governance in a global context, identify key topics, vital institutions, and significant policies shaping this conversation.

You will gain familiarity with the issues that shape AI governance and the factors that both align and separate countries. This course will explore the key issues raised by this powerful technology, explore ways in which society and economy can adapt to the age of pervasive AI and navigate the considerable uncertainty as this technology quickly evolves and develops, placing a premium on agile and pro-active policies. Participants are confronted with assessing a moving target, wide-ranging public policy decisions, heated debates about complex geo-political challenges, and the shifting dynamics that accompany the interplay between public and private governance.

The course is based on four parts that are inter-linked and built to provide a framework for analysing AI governance:

• Part 1. The Foundations of AI Governance: the foundations of AI and the role of technology diplomacy as a key element of soft power and security policy.
• Part 2. The Defining Issues: the defining issues that shape the debate and geo-politics.
• Part 3. An Emerging Regime for AI Governance: the policy approaches to governing AI. It focuses on the interplay of hard and soft law and the role of technical standards, and how the mix of the three define the different policy AI frameworks in China, the EU and the US (the Big Three), the Middle Powers (e.g. Singapore, Brazil, India) and the Global Majority (i.e. Africa).
• Part 4. Exploring the Future of AI Governance: It will draw on the previous three parts and engage students in thinking about the future of global AI governance. We will explore what may be areas of common ground that can act as a basis for a global approach to AI governance, as well as red-lines that may lead to a fragmentation.

This course is also part of the curriculum of the EUI Global Executive Master, in the Artificial Intelligence  and Governance (TEGO-3) specialisation track.

Learning methods

Through seminars and interactive discussions, participants will gain a deeper understanding and foundational knowledge equipping them to engage with the emerging challenges and opportunities for governance of AI and the use of AI in governance.

This will be complemented by deep-dives into specific issues and peer-to-peer learning via group work in online break-out rooms. This will facilitate exploration of various complex issues, role play learning, and applied projects using on-line AI resources.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this training programme, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate AI's opportunities and challenges, including its impact on values, ethics, and human involvement.
• Assess the threats posed by AI, such as bias, misinformation, and economic disruption, and the potential benefits in fields like healthcare, education, and urban planning.
• Consider quantitative resources to inform decision-making in AI
• Illustrate the characteristics and means of undertaking a multi-stakeholder approach to AI policy development and implementation.

Who should attend

This training programme is designed for:

• Public sector officials who are responsible for developing and implementing AI policies in national and subnational administrations, international organisations, public-sector consultancies, etc.;
• Public officials from European institutions, G7 Governments, and officials from International Organisations involved in AI policy;
• Public officials in other fields (education, labour policy, trade, etc.) who want to better understand how AI will affect their field;
• Professionals in the non-governmental, consultancy or the private sector with a role related to AI policy.

Information for applicants

This executive training will take place online on Mondays and Wednesdays (14:00 - 15:30) from 1 June until 1 July 2026.

Participants will be enrolled on the EUI’s virtual learning environment to access the materials of the course.

Accepted participants who successfully complete the training course will receive a Certificate of Attendance from the Florence School of Transnational Governance.