From WhatsApp to AI, Australian envoy Philip Green on the changing face of diplomacy: ‘Substance to replace ceremony’
Speaking at Futures, series of talks held as part of the Bengaluru Hubba festival, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said his government opened a Consulate General in the city because it is “vitally interested in tech”.
Speaking at Futures, a two-day series of talks in Bengaluru, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said diplomacy is expanding across verticals like space and climate change. (Source: Instagram/@blrhubba)
Rejecting claims that diplomacy is no longer relevant, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said Friday that “rumours of diplomacy’s death have been greatly exaggerated.” He was speaking at Futures, a two-day series of talks and panel discussions that explore various aspects of the future, from the city’s development to morality in AI, at Alliance Francaise as part of the Bengaluru Hubba art and culture festival.
Green said that in future, matters of substance would replace ceremony in diplomacy. “Ceremony will be instrumentalised for substantive means – not just to turn up to an event to be there and show respect, but to use those moments to identify something substantive to hear or say.”
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“A key reason why the Australian government has opened a Consulate General in Bengaluru is that we are vitally interested in tech. This has become a global sector of information and intelligence about the future of tech and how it will change our country… It is not the only vertical where our policy is broadened. Space, counterterrorism, science, climate change –across any number of verticals, diplomacy is expanding,” the High Commissioner stated.
Specialised domain expertise in various fields would become more important, he added, shifting away from a time when diplomats were expected to have a broad range of skills. He said there would be a trend towards more experts and fewer generalists with officials outside foreign ministries. Citing the example of the High Commission in India, he said, “It looks like a mini-Canberra with people from a wide range of ministries from our departments of defence, home affairs, energy, etc.”
Green also highlighted the new trend of world leaders having access to quick communication by means such as WhatsApp. He recalled a conversation with a European Union (EU) diplomat who said the role of modern diplomats was “to understand the society I am in at a deep level, and to enrich the way my leader understands what is happening.”
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On the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the High Commissioner anticipated that it would have the effect of fewer personnel in headquarters, where more automated activity could happen, and more people working “in the field”. Green added that AI would not replace diplomats, but diplomats using AI would replace those who did not.
Speaking at Futures, a two-day series of talks in Bengaluru, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said diplomacy is expanding across verticals like space and climate change. (Source: Instagram/@blrhubba) 
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