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TRUTH, TRUST, AND HOPE

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the world has experienced a series of interconnected crises: emerging pandemics and health emergencies, post-pandemic disruptions, inflationary and monetary pressures, war, climate change, and increased stresses on the environment. Scientific information has been the basis for solving these and other grand challenges, but in some cases, that information is distorted or is countered with misinformation or disinformation. When that occurs, public trust in science erodes, solutions are harder to achieve; and trust in scientists, the institutions and governments they serve, and even democracy itself can be undermined. This is a challenge that crosses geographic, demographic, and other

boundaries, and one that can only be solved when stakeholders come together. With the accelerating pace of artificial intelligence, increased access to the internet, and other emerging information technologies and platforms, societies have a tremendous opportunity to democratize knowledge and information. At the same time, a dilution of expertise and authoritative facts and evidence is leading to an erosion of trust that could jeopardize the future of the planet.

In 2021, the first-ever Nobel Prize Summit, entitled Our Planet, Our Future, took place to explore solutions to a related global challenge—sustainability at the intersection of nature, society, and technology (NASEM, 2021). As a continuation of this critical dialogue, the Nobel Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, hosted the second Nobel Prize Summit on May 24–26, 2023. The summit was designed to be an exploration of misinformation and disinformation in the context of the broader information ecosystem looking at the global impact of information technologies in nature and society (see Box 1-1). Held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, and as a virtual event, the second Nobel Prize Summit brought together Nobel Prize laureates and other scientists, policymakers, journalists, business and technology leaders, youth leaders, and others to exchange ideas on challenges and opportunities surrounding the 21st-century information space (see Box 1-2).

ORGANIZATION OF THE SUMMIT AND THIS PROCEEDINGS

The Nobel Prize Summit featured an in-person and virtual Global Conversation on May 24, an in-person Forum of Experts and virtual session on May 25, and nine concurrent solution sessions on May 26 (see Figure 1-1).¹ The Global Conversation was presented as three “chapters”: Let History Be Your Guide (summarized in this proceedings in Chapter 2), Making Sense of Misinformation (Chapter 3), and The Truth Is Out There (Chapter 4). The Forum of Experts, which included panel discussions and four thematic breakout groups, is highlighted in Chapter 5, including information about each of the digital sessions in Box 5-1. Key messages from each of the solution sessions are described in Chapter 6. Participants discussed a broad range of perspectives, including the importance of speeding research on solution, building critical thinking skills, and fostering public deliberation.

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¹ For the full recordings, speaker biographies, and more information, see https://www.nobelprize.org/events/nobel-prize-summit/2023.

In keeping with National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine guidelines, this proceedings was written by rapporteurs and does not reflect recommendations from the steering committee or host institutions.

PERFORMANCE ART: A MOUTHFUL

As more than 700 attendees gathered in the Fred Kavli Auditorium of the almost century-old National Academy of Sciences building and as several thousand others logged in virtually from more than 70 countries,² their first encounter at the 2023 Nobel Summit was a decidedly 21st century performance. Through a spoken-word and movement piece inspired by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and created by Smriti Keshari, a disembodied mouth was broadcast on a large screen. The first words suggested the potential ambiguity of perceptions: “Were the eyes or ears or nose or memory playing tricks on them? Did they witness something out of the ordinary?” As performer Regina Aquino moved from video screen to live on the stage, she first shared a range of superstitions before

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² The top 10 countries represented in the virtual audience included the United States, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, Philippines, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, and Mexico.

calling out many discoveries awarded Nobel Prizes throughout the past 123 years, closing with the question, “What is left to uncover?”

When moderator Kelly Stoetzel asked Keshari why she adapted Beckett’s “solitary mouth” to launch the summit, Keshari replied, “So much information you come across that you hear and that you experience comes from someone’s mouth. One of the central themes to all of my work is how I can take audiences on an emotional journey of a subject matter.” She pointed out that after the piece’s recitation of superstitions and pseudoscience, it ends with scientific discovery and a sense of hope, because “there is always hope in action, and science is action.”

WELCOME REMARKS

Carrying forward the message of hope, leaders from summit sponsor John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and from co-organizers National Academy of Sciences and Nobel Foundation expressed their hopes for the outcomes of the presentations and discussion.

“Science is the one human endeavor that we have had throughout the ages to best predict the outcome of our actions. Science is never complete, it is never perfect, but it is the best we have.” —Marcia McNutt

The Knight Foundation approaches problems from the premise that “there are basically no rules” and thus the potential for new ideas and solutions is large, said Alberto Ibargüen in sharing why the foundation saw support for the summit as integral to its overall portfolio of social science research. The foundation is committed to making this research widely accessible, and he called attention to the establishment of the Knight-Georgetown Institute to shape how technology is used to produce, disseminate, and access information.

Harkening back to history, Ibargüen pointed out the reaction when the printing press was mechanized and introduced in Europe by Johannes Gutenberg. Before

that, monks carefully wrote manuscripts in a controlled environment, one at a time. Through the centuries, the Industrial, Communications, and Digital Revolutions followed, through artificial intelligence today, each bringing both crises and opportunities. With each, there is a balancing act between the reality of commercial self-interest and the public good, he concluded. He invited participants to make contributions to the public good.

Marcia McNutt (National Academy of Sciences) reflected on the energy in the room and commented, “working together, there is no problem we cannot solve.” From her perspective as a geophysicist, she observed the impact of misinformation on dealing with climate change and, more generally as a scientist, misinformation about COVID-19 that caused people to abandon scientifically proven interventions and grasp at ineffective or dangerous remedies. “Science is the one human endeavor that we have had throughout the ages to best predict the outcome of our actions. Science is never complete, it’s never perfect, but it’s the best we have,” she said.

Vidar Helgesen (Nobel Foundation) underscored the need to bring solutions to the fore. “If you consider the universe of Nobel Prizes—the science, the literature, and the peace prizes—at the heart of all of those disciplines is, in one way or the other, the quest for truth,” he said. “Disinformation, misinformation, and attacks on truth seekers undermine scientific progress; undermine and weaken public deliberation, the freedom of expression and democracy; and promote conflict and tension in society.”

Explaining the reasoning behind the Nobel–National Academies partnership for the summit, McNutt explained, “At the core of both of our organizations is the recognition and promotion of excellence and the very highest quality science imaginable…. Our organizations are all about excellence, integrity, truth, and trust. And we hope, in the course of this meeting, that we will help all of you identify where can you go to find the truth, who you can trust to deliver it to you, and finally, how can we all find hope in solutions to address these very difficult problems.” Helgesen added that just as the Nobel Prize itself honors different areas of expertise, the summit brings together different disciplines, including the participation of 11 Nobel Prize laureates.