Sharif Uddin Ahmed Rana
David Smith
Donald Steiny
Marshall Mermell
Rob Enderle
Tom Ross
Paul Beckwith
Gennady Stolyarov II

The U.S. Transhumanist Party presented this special Virtual Enlightenment Salon as a collaboration with the World Talent Economy Forum, whose host, Sharif Uddin Ahmed Rana, moderated two debates in the Asian Parliamentary format on artificial intelligence and space colonization on December 24 and 31, 2021. Here we provided key portions of both debates in sequence to give our viewers a glimpse into these unique and thoughtful intellectual exchanges.

First Debate – Artificial Intelligence – December 24, 2021

Resolution: “This House believes that humanity should fear advances in artificial intelligence”.

U.S. Transhumanist Party Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II served as the leader of the Opposition to the motion; it was as if the Transhumanist Party were the leading opposition party in a parliamentary system and had the occasion to rebut the Prime Minister’s (Rob Enderle’s) case for fearing AI. The “government” side was represented by Rob Enderle, Donald Steiny, and Marshall Mermell. The “opposition” side (those who disagreed with fearing AI) was represented by Gennady Stolyarov II, David Smith, and Tom Ross (USTP Director of Sentient Rights Advocacy). At the conclusion of the debate, analysis of the issues was provided by Professor Paul Beckwith.

Second Debate – Space Colonization – December 31, 2021

Resolution: “This House believes that humans should invest in technology to explore and colonize other planets.”

Since its performance at the previous debate on artificial intelligence, the Transhumanist Party was able to make its way from the opposition to the government and presented a staunchly pro-space-colonization policy agenda, defending the motion, “Humans should invest in technology to explore and colonize other planets”. Chairman Gennady Stolyarov II made the opening argument for the motion, in the role of the Honorable Prime Minister, with Andreas Melhede and Professor Paul Beckwith providing supporting arguments in subsequent speeches. On the side of the opposition were Rob Enderle, Donald Steiny, and Marshall Mermell. After the debate, the participants received feedback from the esteemed Jordanian politician Dr. Taleb Rifai, the previous Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (you want to hear what he has to say!) as well as from the USTP’s Director of Applied Innovation, David Shumaker.

Watch the U.S. Transhumanist Party Virtual Enlightenment Salon with Sharif Uddin Ahmed Rana, streamed on June 19, 2022.

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