What Does an AI Expert Teach to Diplomats?

Gale Lucas is a faculty member of CPD's professional training program, which includes CPD Summer Institute and CPD Mini-Courses. This feature was included in CPD's 2020–2021 Annual Report. View this and other stories here.

“The exciting thing about diplomats is they have opportunities to go out and use what they’ve learned to make a difference in the world immediately,” says Gale Lucas, Research Assistant Professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Computer Science Department, who teaches artificial intelligence (AI) in CPD’s professional education curriculum. 

CPD’s courses in data science focus on developing strategic communications by skillfully navigating and accurately interpreting various forms of data, understanding data sources to navigate the information landscape, and implementing best practices for data stewardship and dissemination. Participants experience hands-on learning such as in the creation of AI-driven chat bots, which will be key elements in public diplomacy work for the coming decades. 

“I provide a framework for learning about new computational methods as they become part of science,” notes Lucas. “Workshop participants will have this framework going forward, no matter how technology and analytic approaches evolve.”

Lucas’ modules are part of CPD’s data-driven public diplomacy course that considers where the world is headed, from teaching participants about the life cycle of content, how data and content move in the information sphere, the latest trends in technology-driven public diplomacy and more.