The World Laureates Summit kicked off Sunday in Dubai, bringing together more than 150 scientists and distinguished participants, including Nobel Prize laureates, to exchange insights on addressing challenges facing humanity and shaping the future of civilization.
The three-day summit, held in parallel with the World Governments Summit 2026, is running under the theme "Basic Sciences: Scientific Consensus for Addressing the Challenges of Humanity." It is spotlighting the role of fundamental research in shaping policy, economic development and technological innovation.
Discussions are centering on fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum sciences and nanotechnology, as well as energy and advanced materials.
Roger Kornberg, Nobel laureate and chairman of the World Laureates Association, said the summit comes at a time of urgent global challenges and offers scientists a rare chance to contribute directly to long-term thinking about civilization, prosperity and human progress.
Speaking to China Media Group, he stressed that the creativity and problem-solving capacity of scientists remain irreplaceable by artificial intelligence (AI).
"Many of us believe that scientists will always be able, for the foreseeable future, to develop ideas, to be creative and to solve problems in ways that AI cannot do. It must be remembered that AI is limited by existing knowledge. Discovery often relates to something new, which is not part of what is already known today," he said.
World Laureates Summit opens in Dubai to tackle global challenges
